The Dutch gambling regulator, Kansspelautoriteit has confirmed that five penalties totaling EUR26m have been imposed. Each of the five were for “offering online games without a license”.
The Ksa stated that the amount of each was determined by its “newly adopted fines policy in Sept 2021, which considers the Dutch turnover”.
The court was also informed that the providers had asked for the suspension of publication of the decisions after the fines were made public. The requests were rejected by the judge this week.
For a second violation, the Ksa described the first as “two eye-catching large quantities” and was EUR12.64m to Interactive. The betchan.com website in Malta issued a fine to the Malta-based company for providing games of chance to Dutch players.
Video Slots, which had already announced the impending decision earlier this week, was fined EUR9.87m. According to the Ksa, this was due to “the incorrectly displayed word mark of Gaming Authority on the website”. This may not be used by licensed providers.
Yesterday, the Ksa was accused by the online operator of “abusing mystery shopping regime” when it applied the sanction. This suggests that regulators “calculated fines based upon several guesstimates”.
Videoslots declared an intention to contest the decision and labeled the sanction absurd. They also accused the Dutch regulator of acting unlawfully.
Other fines were imposed on Betpoint Group (EUR1.78m), Probe Investments,(EUR1.12m) and Fairload (EUR900,000).
According to the Authority, “other fine-increasing issues include the absence of visible and adequate verification of age, which incorrectly suggests that products are offered with a European license and allows anonymous payment methods”.
Rene Jansen is the Chair of Ksa. He stated: “We mean business. Safety of the player is paramount. To hit the heart of the matter, a fine should be imposed. We believe that we can impose a sanction appropriate to illegal earnings with such amounts.
