Dutch gambling regulator Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) has issued a €1 million (£872,498/$1.1 million) fine to Curaçao-licensed Alimaniere Sociedad De Responsabilidad Limitada for operating in the Netherlands illegally without a licence.
KSA announced the ruling today (6 January), with this being the second sanction imposed on Alimaniere in just two months. The regulator reached the decision on 10 December but did not make this information public until today.
In November, KSA issued an initial penalty to Alimaniere for offering online gambling illegally via its Time2spin.com site. Consumers were able to access games of chance, which are not permitted online in the Netherlands.
Alimaniere was told that it would have to pay €140,000 per violation, up to a maximum of €420,000. However, KSA said while Time2spin.com had been made inaccessible after an earlier warning, Alimaniere was offering gambling on another site: Timetospin1.com.
In the latest announcement, KSA said Alimaniere has continued to offer online gambling to Dutch players without a licence. KSA again said users could access and play illegal games of chance. Country-specific features such as Dutch language were also available to users.
The case dates back to November 2023 when KSA first investigated Alimaniere for potential wrongdoing. It warned the operator that it would face action if it did not cease activity in the Dutch market.
Regulator opts for higher fine
Due to the nature of the case, KSA elected to impose a fine above the basic amount for this offence.
Existing Dutch policy – before the new system was implemented last week – states for this offence, companies with turnover of less than €15 million should face a basic fine of €600,000. The fine now facing Alimaniere is almost double this figure.
As to why it took this course of action, KSA highlighted several factors. These include a lack of age verification on the websites run by Alimaniere, the option for prohibited autoplay and how players could face financial penalties if they were inactive for a certain amount of time.
“The Netherlands has a legal market to ensure that people who want to gamble can do so safely,” KSA chairman Michel Groothuizen said. “With illegal providers, we often see that no account is taken of the prevention of risky gambling behaviour.
“For example, there was a lack of age verification, which also allowed minors to play, and inactivity costs were charged when someone did not use their account for a while. We therefore take tough action against these types of parties.”
New-look penalty system for Dutch market
Incidentally, KSA announced a new general fines policy last week. In this, it sets out five core categories of increasing penalties dependent on individual breaches of online gaming law.
Penalties can range from a formal warning up to a fine of €4 million. Category 1 penalties are the lowest and can range up to €500, while the largest penalties are for Category 5 offences, with a basic fine of €2 million.
