Dutch authorities reaffirm stance on illegal online gambling

In the article presented by the regulator this week, Appelman answered questions about the responsibilities of Kansspelautoriteit and also about the authority’s stance on the provision of unlicensed online gaming and sports betting services within the Netherlands’ territory.

Kansspelautoriteit was established in 2012 as an independent regulatory body and has since then been tasked with monitoring and regulating the country’s gambling industry, with issuing licenses to eligible operators, and with sanctioning violators of the country’s gambling laws.

Online gambling and the state of the sector in the Netherlands was one of the topics discussed by Appelman in the factsheet. The gambling official emphasized on the fact that igaming is currently illegal in the country and that the Dutch Gaming Authority has always been staunchly opposed to the unlicensed, and therefore illegal, provision of igaming services to local players.

Thus, the recent introduction of a new set of online gambling rules came not as a change in Kansspelautoriteit’s stance but as its reaffirmation.

Under the new rules, operators are not allowed to accept players referred from .nl affiliate websites. In addition, neither operators, nor affiliate businesses are allowed to use typically Dutch features and symbols to promote igaming services to Dutch players.

As explained by Appelman, the country’s current regulatory framework does not allow the issuance of igaming licenses to interested international operators. However, a change of the current legal status quo has been under consideration for several years now, with the most significant progress in that direction being made last summer.

In July 2016, the Dutch Lower House passed a bill that provided for the legalization and regulation of online gambling in the country. It is now up to the Dutch Senate to cast a final vote on the legislative piece and change the way the igaming sector is treated under the country’s gambling laws. However, it is still unclear when exactly the necessary vote will take place.