The Dutch gambling regulator, Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), has fined an unnamed operator a massive €734,000.
The operator has not been disclosed, but the fine has been imposed due to the KSA stating that the company has allegedly insufficiently protected young adults against excessive gambling and gambling addiction.
Operators in the Netherlands have a duty of care to protect players as much as possible, with all licensees to provide safeguards and prevent underage gambling.
In the announcement, published on Tuesday (April 15) the KSA states an investigation had been launched and it was through this that the alleged violations were found. A total of 10 player accounts were reviewed.
Young adult players, aged between 18 to 23 years old, were said to have lost tens of thousands of euros in often relatively short periods of time.
Dutch gambling regulator KSA releases monitoring report
In the press release, which has been translated into English, KSA chair Michel Groothuizen says: “We have a licensed gaming market based on the idea that anyone who wants to gamble can do so safely.
“That is why providers have a duty of care towards their players and must respond adequately to excessive gaming.” The fine has been disputed, with legal proceedings ongoing.
This comes after the KSA shared a monitoring report on Monday (April 14), which looks into how young people in the Netherlands are gambling.
Through this, it was found that young people, aged between 18 and 23 years old, spend less money on average on gambling as they lose an average of €48 per month, compared to €148 for 24+ players.
On the other hand, the younger age group was found to bet relatively more on sports competitions than older age groups, with 29% of the money they spend going to sports betting. In contrast, older adults make up 22% of the total population.
An average of 1.19 million accounts per month per played in the last six months which is a slight increase compared to the six months earlier, when there were 1.1 million.
Featured Image: AI-generated via Ideogram
