The gaming laws of the Netherlands are “outdated” according to the country’s gaming authority.
In its 2017 annual report, the authority called for a review of Dutch gaming regulations as well as the legalization of regulated online gaming. The authority said the country’s gaming laws date back to 1964 and due not give regulators the resources to fight illegal online gaming in the country.
The authority said it “urgently” backs a new proposed gambling act now in the Dutch Senate.
“Most countries in Europe have legalized online games of chance,” the report said. “The Netherlands is one of the few that has not yet done so. If a remote gaming act is a fact it would be necessary to approach the authority for a license to operate online gaming. This makes it possible to regulate the market. The Dutch gambler can then safely and reliably take part in online gambling and illegal operations can be tackled.”
The authority also called for an “addiction fund” and central register for problem gamblers.
Authority Chairman Jan Suyver writes that under the country’s current laws, trying to regulate gambling is like “mopping with the tap open.”
The Netherlands has had particular problems blocking illegal offshore betting sites based in Curacao, a Dutch-speaking Caribbean Island, the report said. The government has fined Curaçao-based operators several times in recent years for illegally offering games to players in the Netherlands, but due to difficulties in locating such companies only half a million of the €2.6 million levied in fines has ever been collected.
