Remote Gambling Bill Accepted in the Netherlands

Earlier this week, the Dutch Senate conducted a vote regarding the Remote Gambling Bill. The bill has been authorized, and online gambling licensing will begin within the next calendar year. The bill’s approval was slow-going as it had been first approved over three decades ago from the Dutch Parliament reduced home.

Moving Forward:

With the reduced home approving the bill a while ago and now the Senate in approval, the Netherlands is now able to move forward with the restructuring the procedure for their online gambling marketplace. The nation will now allow global iGaming operators to submit an application for licensing. The gambling regulator in the region is Kansspelautoriteir.

License applications will have to be filed to Kansspelautoriteir and then approved for global operators to input the newly regulated marketplace. Although the Remote Gambling Bill has passed, analysts have predicted that the licensing process won’t start until mid-2020. The new regulatory system won’t be operational until the first of January 2021.

According to Calvin Ayre…

Operators have been waiting to see advancement in the nation and a few are already voicing their approval of the bill’s death. Pontus Lindwall, the CEO of The Betsson Group, commented about the approval by saying: “Finally, there’ll be modern gambling laws in a more big monopolistic marketplace in Europe…We welcome the law despite our concern about the so called cooling off period that could hurt channelization of local clients as well as be deemed non-compliant with EU legislation.

The cooling off period referred to by Lindwall is in reference to the Dutch Minister for Legal Protection’s proposition that would stop illegal operators that previously offered services at the region from obtaining a license for a two-year time frame.

Attractive Market:

Online gambling operators locate the Netherlands an attractive region because of the prevalence of gambling in the nation. Players continue to boost their gambling habits and operators need in on the action. Kansspelautoriteit has attempted for many years to prevent unlicensed gambling in the region but didn’t have the power to handle the industry effectively based on current laws.

Once the new regulations are enforced, online gambling operators will have to adopt certain policies and tools which will help to minimize the risk of gambling addiction. Players are going to be better protected. Such requirements will include operators registering for a self-exclusion regimen which will allow problem gamblers to exclude themselves in gambling for an allotted time frame if necessary.