The online bingo site, Tombola, requires affiliates to take a compliance check with a legal consultancy firm if they want to promote in the Netherlands. Tombola is the industry’s first company to operate in such a manner.
The compliance check costs €1,125 ($1,270) per website for the first year and afterwards, the affiliates must pay another €725 per year to remain compliant.
Additionally, affiliates are not allowed to choose who they want to conduct the compliance check. The bingo site only accepts the check of the legal consultancy firm, XY Legal Solutions BV.
The consultancy firm has set up the KVA seal of approval as a brand for its compliance check. The KVA seal should not be confused with the Dutch Gaming Authority, Kansspelautoriteit (KSA). The KVA is not connected to the KSA, nor is it accredited by it.
Jan Westerhoff, Nieuwslog Dutch iGaming Specialist, argued that this requirement represents an extra cost of tens of thousands of euros for affiliated companies with a large number of websites.
He added: "Tombola is the only provider with a Dutch KSA license that imposes this requirement. All other operators on the Dutch market, such as bet365 and Betcity do their own compliance checks, and those companies do not charge affiliates for this."
According to Westerhoff, this decision will generate an unworkable and expensive situation in the affiliate market if other operators are to follow.
He concluded: "This would mean gigantic bills for affiliate companies, and the only winners would be the money-grabbing consultants who want to make a quick buck."
