Details of Dutch Regulator KSA’s €26m in December Fines Released

Dutch regulator Kansspelautoriteit has levied €26m in fines for license violations in December, with details of the penalties coming out now.

First Penalties

All penalties are still being appealed, but the targets of the fines have been revealed to be Videoslots at €9.8m, with other fines handed down to N1 Interactive, Probe Investments, Betpoint Group, and Fairload.

Unlicensed Play Issue

All five of the companies assessed fines committed the violation of allowing players to participate in unlicensed online casino play, according to the KSA.

Requests for Delay

The fines were originally announced in December, with proceedings delayed by all five parties requesting that the decisions not be published. The request for a delay was thrown out of court last week.

Repeat Violation

Other details released include KSA’s assertion that N1 Interactive’s €12.6m fine constituted a repeat violation for an infraction that had been fined previously.

Incorrect Display Liability

KSA further expanded on the fine levied on Videoslots, saying the operator was flagged for incorrectly displaying the regulator’s logo:

KSA explained:

The wordmark of the Gaming Authority was incorrectly displayed on the website, while this may only be used by licensed providers.

Videoslots Contention

Videoslots announcing its intention to contest almost immediately.

KSA listed other violations they imposed fines on as lack of visible and adequate age verification; the wrongful implication of products being offered were licensed in Europe, and allowing anonymous payment methods.

KSA’s New Policy

KSA further explained that the imposition of fines was based on the organisation’s “newly adopted fines policy in September 2021, which takes into account the turnover achieved in the Netherlands.”

Interactive’s Bad Site

Further information indicates that Malta-based N1 Interactive received a previous fine for offering games of chance to Dutch players via an unlicensed website called betchan.com.

Videoslots Complaint

Videoslots contested the decision by castigating the Netherlands Gaming Authority, characterising KSA as “abusing the mystery shopping regime” imposing the fine, and accused the regulator of calculating “the fine based on several guesstimates.”

Accusing KSA

Videoslots deputy chief executive Ulle Skottling didn’t stop there, going so far as to label the sanction “absurd” and additionally insisting the KSA itself was “acting unlawfully.”

Dividing the Fines

The other fines are split up to Betpoint Group’s €1.78m penalty, Probe Investments at €1.12m, and Fairload at €900,000.

KSA Spokesperson Speaks

KSA Chair René Janse said of the fines:

“We mean business. Player safety is paramount. A fine is to hit where it hurts, so in the wallet. With such amounts, we think we can impose an appropriate sanction, given the illegal earnings.”

Outlook

The penalised operators would appear to do better by accepting the decision than attack the integrity of any regulating authority.