Netherlands: Online Casinos exhaust player protection measures

In a recent statement, the boss of the Dutch Gambling Authority called upon the social conscience of the online casinos. Only recently there was a contribution on the Dutch TV which revealed the loopholes of the current player protection measures. Many gambling operators exhaust the legally valid limits – to the anger of the gambling custodians.

Around two weeks ago, the chairman of the Dutch Gambling Authority Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), René Jansen, had published a blogpost in which, among other things, he called on the social conscience of the gambling operators. He unequivocally requested the providers to shoulder their responsibility out of their own free will. Among other things, Jansen criticised the circumstance from the side of the operators, that they grant a daily money limit of 100,000 Euro. In August of last year we had reported about the fact, that The Netherlands will be introducing a foreign ban on gambling.

TV report criticizes Dutch player protection measures 

At the end of January a report which criticises the current legal player protection measures was aired on TV in The Netherlands. It revealed that the operators allow maximum freedom, especially to new players. This was especially shown by the fact that very generous limits can be set. For example, the loss limit at a single individual provider can be set at a maximum 100,000 per day and it will actually be levered out.

Further to this, the operators partly enable the time limit which can be played on a maximal day to be adjusted over a 24 hour period. Actually since the Dutch Gambling Law KAO came into effect on the 1st. October 2021, there is a maximum daily limit of gambling hours stipulated. But if these maximum number of hours are adjusted over 24 hours, then it makes no sense at all that the limit is adopted. The new Dutch Law has thus been passed a few months after the German State Gambling Treaty (GlüStV). In both cases the aim is to protect the players in the best possible way from the dangers of online gambling.

Even the current chairperson of the Dutch Gambling Authority, Jansen, points out these loopholes in his recently published blogpost. Jansen simultaneously requests the gambling operators to assume their responsibilities and protect the players in a better way. In July 2021 we reported about the fact, that the Dutch Gambling Authority KSA had imposed a 500,000 fine on an MGA-Casino.

Either the providers take responsibility - or the state

In his recent blog post the KSA boss Jansen has surprisingly shown a lot of understanding for the approach of the gambling operators. Among other things, he said, that it is understandable that the providers face competition from each other and of course they then try to win new customers. In spite of this, the providers must however meet their responsibilities. If this is not done soon, then the state will have to intervene with the appropriate measures. In this context Jansen actually stated:

“If the gambling providers do not take sufficient responsibility, the state will at some point do so.”

Conclusion

It is of course not understandable that in spite of new player protection measures, some operators can set a daily limit at 100,000 Euro and the play time can be set at 24 hours a day, seven days in a week. This procedure of the gambling operators is not showing effective player protection at all. One can only hope that the providers will take the appeal of the “Gambling-custodians“ to heart and adjust their procedures accordingly to protect the players who are at risk in the best possible way.

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