Dutch Gambling Regulator Adds a New Policy, Warns an Operator

The Netherlands’ online betting market went live on October 5 but the country’s regulator, the KSA, is already introducing some extra rules in order to inhibit gambling harm.

The KSA Introduces a New Rule

As per the new rules, the licensees now must maintain a level of transparency and provide crucial data that would help researchers to better understand gambling harm. Operators will be systematically required to analyze player behavior and share the information with institutions that research gambling addiction. Player anonymity will be ensured in this process.

The KSA demands data that includes both internal and external signs pointing to a player’s over-enthusiasm for gambling and frequent participation that may evolve into addiction. This includes how often a customer logs in, how often they play, what is their age, and how much they have spent. The authority also wants to see the operators’ way of reaching out to the players in question and the players’ response.

In return, the institutions that receive the relevant data have the responsibility of reporting their findings back to the KSA and the respective operators.

“This data is important for scientific research and the development of new scientific insights into problematic gaming behavior and the development of intervention methods tailored to the player to prevent the development from recreational to problematic gaming behavior as much as possible,” the new regulations read.

The Authority Warns a Licensee for Misleading Ad

Since the launch of its betting market, the Netherlands has been very strict about operators upholding its rules.

In order to ensure a healthy gambling ecosystem, the KSA has been working hard to crack down on any illegally operating betting sites and has ensured that the licensed ones follow the regulations.

To prove this point, the KSA has just issued a warning to one of its licensees because of misleading online sports betting advertising.  The operator in question had placed odds on a sports news site. When clicked, the widget redirected the user to the licensee’s official website.

The Dutch Gambling Act that went live on April 1 this year strictly prohibits such misleading marketing tactics and demands that all banner ads should be clearly defined as ads. The regulation covers all instances of online advertisement which led to the operator receiving a warning and was asked to take down all those banners within a day and a half.

The operator heard the KSA loud and clear and took down the misleading advertisements.