The Dutch gambling regulator, Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), has levied a substantial fine of €886,000 against 711 B.V., an online gambling operator, for failing to fulfill its legal duty of care towards players. This announcement came on Thursday following a comprehensive investigation into the company's management of customers exhibiting risky gambling behaviors.
Conducted from February 2022 to June 2024, the KSA's investigation scrutinized how 711 attended to player welfare, particularly in identifying and managing harmful gambling trends. The KSA reviewed ten customer files that were flagged due to indicators such as significant financial losses, frequent wagering over several days, and gambling activity during late-night hours.
In each reviewed case, the KSA uncovered regulatory violations. The findings highlighted that 711 inadequately analyzed users’ gambling behaviors, resulting in a failure to implement appropriate intervention measures. This oversight allowed some customers' gambling patterns to escalate uncontrollably, leading to significant financial losses.
KSA chair Michel Groothuizen framed this fine within a broader enforcement strategy. "We have seen that not all operators organized the duty of care equally well from the opening of the market. We have therefore carried out additional investigations, which now result in several duty-of-care fines,” he stated. He added, “At the same time, we have tightened the requirements around the duty of care, to prevent excesses such as those we see here in future.”
The fine against 711 B.V. is part of KSA's stringent approach to regulation. Earlier this year, in March, the regulator imposed a record €25 million fine on Novatech for allegedly operating illegally. Novatech was found to have permitted Dutch users to register and gamble without implementing adequate geo-blocking and age-verification measures.
In another case, KSA issued a penalty order to Polymarket in February, requiring the platform to cease operations in the Netherlands or face a potential fine of up to €84 million. KSA determined that Adventure One QSS, the company behind Polymarket, was operating without the necessary gambling license.
The KSA has stressed the necessity for licensed operators to actively identify and respond to gambling-related harm signs. This includes monitoring player behavior, instituting targeted interventions, and, when needed, applying account restrictions or exclusions.
This week also saw KSA report TOTO online for breaching the role model ban. The Nederlandse Loterij platform promoted its offerings through social media in collaboration with eight professional football clubs, promising a chance to win signed club shirts for those who placed a €5 bet with TOTO Online. The use of "role models" in gambling advertisements is prohibited in the Netherlands to protect young audiences. Meryam Sümer from the CDA advocated for raising the legal gambling age from 18 to 24, emphasizing the need for regulations that minimize temptations that could lead to problematic gambling.
This isn’t TOTO's first conflict with KSA; the platform faced a fine in 2022 for advertisements that appeared directed at younger audiences. While the KSA has not disclosed the specific intervention shortcomings identified in 711's operations, the operator has not issued a public response regarding the regulator’s findings.
