In recent years, online gambling has become extremely popular across the globe. In light of this, many countries have updated, completely changed or implemented new gambling regulations to make room for this form of gaming.
While the Netherlands has always been considered more liberal than other countries, the current gambling scene is not much to get excited about. The good news is that the country has been in the process of updating their gambling regulations to legalise online casino gameplay .
New Remote Gambling Act
For Dutch players, there are currently not many online casino options available as the gambling authorities have been very strict regarding their stance on any form of gambling during this process.
Any online casinos that are caught offering their services to Dutch players at this time are fined and given a time out by the country’s gambling regulator, Kansspelautoriteit (KSA). Any online casino that wishes to apply for a license within the Netherlands needs to be clear of offering services to Dutch players for the past two years .
While the Remote Gaming Act was approved one year ago, the Dutch government only released a draft General Administrative Order implementing it earlier in March this year. The current draft will go through further revising as more tweaks have been suggested to policies on gambling advertisements, the “time out” and responsible gambling.
While the initial “time out” for casinos was a period of 2 years, the KSA is considering adding an additional 6 months. With the final details of the bill taking more time than expected, the launch of the online casino market and licensing procedures have been pushed back.
The future of Dutch Gambling
Dutch regulatory bodies have announced that the fully regulated Dutch gambling market will only be launched in 2021. The Dutch Gaming Authority will only be starting the application procedures in January 2021 .
With the new Remote Gambling Act, Dutch players can expect something entirely different and possibly unique at legalised online casinos. Once the market opens, online casinos with permits will have the ability to adjust their products and offers according to the needs of Dutch players. This will include offering customer service in Dutch or even launching 100% Dutch online casinos . The possibilities will be endless for those with the correct licensing permits.
Regulatory delays are “not bad”
According to René Jansen, Regulatory Chief of the KSA, the current regulatory delays shouldn’t be considered as all that bad.
Jansen stated that the Netherlands could end up with the strictest addiction prevention policies in the world. The new regulations will require all applicants to provide extensive documentation on their responsible gambling policies. Furthermore, the Dutch authorities will be dedicated to finding out which operators only offer these policies on paper and which truly implement them .
Marketing from prospective operators will also be placed under a microscope to ensure players aren’t misled or lured into gambling through aggressive advertisements.
Some legislation that could affect future gameplay for players is the curb of bonus offers for those who have made use of the gambling intervention measures at prospective casino sites. According to the planned legislation, players who have made use of prevention measures will not be offered bonus rewards for a specific time period . The time period will be determined by the level of intervention the customer implemented.
Dutch online casinos will also not be able to provide players with special bonuses tailor-made to their gameplay.
The Dutch government along with the KSA are dedicated to creating legislation that will ensure Dutch players are protected at all online casinos. That being said, there is no denying that online casino gameplay will come with a great number of restrictions once the Dutch online casino market launches in mid-2021 .