Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), the Dutch gambling regulator, has issued a €734k fine over a player protection breach involving young adults.

An investigation into a licence holder revealed that it had fallen short of its duty of care responsibilities, putting young adults at risk of problem gambling by allowing them to accrue large losses. 

The probe by the KSA involved a review of 10 customer files on the operator’s system, all belonging to players between the ages of 18 and 23. Violations were found across all 10 of them, constituting “tens of thousands of euros” in losses – some of them piled up within a short period of time.

Interim injunction in order

Under normal circumstances, the regulator also publishes the name of the company that has been found to be in breach of Dutch regulations. In this instance however, the KSA has not done so due to the operator in question requesting an interim injunction from the court. 

A review by a judge of whether KSA’s decision has been rightly enforced is in due course, however the regulator must abstain from mentioning the provider until explicitly told otherwise. 

Michel Groothuizen, KSA Board Chairman, said: “We have a licensed gambling 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 play. 

“Major losses are an important signal of this. We have intensified our supervision of the online duty of care and we take tough action against violations such as those we find here, because we really do not want to see providers continue to fail in their duty of care, especially for vulnerable young players.”

Preventing problem gambling amongst young people has become the driving force behind a number of gambling reforms spearheaded by Dutch Legal Secretary Teun Struycken.

Struycken wants to see a modernised online gambling sector on par with the highest safe play standards. That’s why he’s pushing for a number of changes, such as an increase of the minimum age for “high-risk online games” to 21, mandatory deposit limits, as well as increasing the powers of the KSA. 

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