The Netherlands has long had online gambling on its plate ever since the lower House of parliament approved of the legislation in 2016.
February 19th, 2019, the Netherlands adds a new gambling law after finally receiving approval for its remote online gambling legislation, known as the Remote Gambling Act, by the country’s Senate three years after the House of Representatives approved the measure.
Online sports betting and online casino gambling licensees will be provided to operators in the Netherlands under the new regulation but is subject to secondary legislation yet to be submitted for the European Commission’s approval.
The Netherlands will also implement a harsh penalty for operators serving Dutch consumers without the country’s permission. The penalty will come as a financial fine ranging from 150,000 Euros to 200,000 Euros depending on how purposefully and obviously the operator violated Dutch law. The fine will become effective on March 1st as part of the country’s gambling law.
The penalty comes from the Netherlands’ Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) regulatory body. Kansspelautoriteit says the number of websites run which break the new regulation, the number of illegal online games, and types of promotions used to lure Dutch consumers will be considered when determining the financial penalty amount.
The KSA may even increase the penalty by 75,000 Euros if the illegal site is offering live betting, claiming to be in legal operation, and/or imposing fees on inactive accounts.
The penalty can increase based on various other factors like ignoring a previous warning, targeting minors, targeting those with gambling problems, and for those who are considered repeat offenders by the KSA.
The fine can also decrease by 25% for operators going above and beyond for the KSA in terms of cooperation. The KSA will be the main authority for gaming licenses in the country and licenses are expected to cost 40,000 Euros.
Illegal operators fined for violations before the Remote Gambling Act’s passing will be eligible to apply for a permit after a cooling off period of up to 2 years.
It is likely the KSA will begin providing licenses and taking applications in 2020 to begin legitimate online operations as soon as 2021. During this time, the Dutch gambling sector will undergo significant transformation.
A 29% tax rate will be placed on all gambling revenue in the country, online or offline, as well as, a 1.5% tax that will assist with operating costs of the KSA, and a .5% tax to allocate funds to prevention and treatment programs for gambling addicts.
Licensed offshore providers will need to gain permission or a permit from the Dutch government to offer services to Dutch players. The government may consider blocking IPs to assist with mitigating illegal providers.
The Central Register Exclusion of Games of Chance (CRUKS) will be the main database the KSA use to identify those will a gambling problem. Through this database, the KSA will be able to exclude any person from using a Dutch licensed online gambling platform for any given length of time.