Dutch gambling regulator Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) has issued NetX Betting with a fine of up to €675,000 (£561,748/$729,183) for offering online gambling without a licence on its Pferdewetten.de and Betbird.com domains. The penalty also covers a policy of NetX's to fine inactive players after a certain period of time.
This is the latest in a slew of financial penalties handed out by the KSA. Earlier this week Winbet, the operator of Galaxyspins.com, Winnercasino1.bet, Superb1.bet and Doctorspins.com, was warned that it may have to pay up to €840,000 for offering unlicensed gambling products. Last week, the regulator also sent a similar communication to BlokDance for offering gambling activities via its bc.game and bcgame.lu domains.
The NetX case dates back to December 2022 when KSA first investigated the operator for illegal activity in the Netherlands. KSA found Dutch players were able to access and gamble via its Pferdewetten.de website.
Website visitors could bet on horse racing and trotting which KSA classes as games of chance, which are not prohibited in the Netherlands without the relevant licence. The site said it was only licensed in Malta.
KSA reinvestigated the site in April of the following year, discovering Dutch players could still access the website. It also noted no technical measures were put in play to block access to consumers in the Netherlands.
As a result, KSA issued NetX with a penalty payment order, informing the operator it must cease all activity in the country. NetX complied and shut down the website last September.
However, upon reinvestigation, KSA found players could still access the same site, open an account and gamble. In addition, NetX was found to be running another website – Betbird.com – which offered similar gambling options to Dutch users.
This led KSA to take further action, with a hearing taking place earlier this year.
NetX criticised over “inactivity” costs
During the hearing, NetX produced documentation to support its case. This included claims that horse betting should not be classed as games of chance in the same way as casino gaming is.
NetX also said it took steps to stop players from the Netherlands accessing its site and an IP blocking error was causing players to be able to regain access to the site.
However, KSA maintained its position that NetX had breached Dutch law. It also crticised a policy whereby NetX was fining players for inactivity, imposing a monthly penalty of €5 from the 13th month of user inactivity. It argued this was standard practice in the industry. KSA disagreed with NetX on the matter and elected to move forward with a fine.
In total, NetX was issued a fine of €675,000. Of this, €600,000 related to offering gambling in the Netherlands without a licence, while €75,000 applied to the inactivity clause.
KSA: Dutch players must be protected
Commenting on the case, KSA chairman Michel Groothuizen welcome the ruling. He said a tough approach to rule-breakers is required to protect players in the Netherlands.
“We see that illegal providers often pay little attention to the player and do not comply with a duty of care,” Groothuizen said. “Here, for example, we saw the practice that players who are inactive for a long time after creating an account are given a ‘fine’ by the provider.
“If they do not play for a certain period of time, an amount of €5 per month is charged. In that case, a player is punished if he does not participate in the (illegal) games of chance offered. Of course, that goes beyond all bounds.”
