Key points:
- Evalution finds players are insufficiently protected against risk of addiction
- It does, however, mention the reliability of online gambling and combatting fraud
An evaluation has been carried out of the Remote Gambling Act (KOA) in the Netherlands, which has called for “urgent adjustments.”
This evaluation was carried out by the WODC, a Dutch agency in the field of Justice and Security, and set out a number of recommendations to address some concerns it had found with the Remote Gambling Act.
Firstly, it found that online gamblers are not being sufficiently protected against the risk of addiction, being uninformed when it comes to the risks of addiction and their own gambling behaviour. It also suggests protective measures have not been working as intended.
The evaluation criticises online gambling providers and their monitoring of gambling behaviour, questioning whether providers should be the ones fulfilling this duty of care. It mentions that providers according must work together to formulate a prevention policy against addiction with addiction experts, but that “this cooperation is very limited.”
On the other hand, the WODC does mention the reliability of online gambling and combatting fraud.
Good to know: The gambling tax rate in the Netherlands is set to increase from 30.5% to 34.2% in 2025
The WODC has therefore suggested the following: player data should be made available for independent research for addiction prevention, the duty of care should be prescribed centrally and that the KSA’s instruments to monitor the licensed supply should be increased.
It also suggested improvements for combatting the illegal market, the shielding of vulnerable target groups from promotional activities and broadening the core objectives of ‘preventing gambling addiction’ and ‘preventing gambling harm.’
In other news from the Netherlands this week, the KSA this week has reprimanded three providers for incidents involving improper advertising and targeting of vulnerable groups.
