Online gambling regulations in Netherlands are on the way

Netherlands are approaching online gambling regulations as the new Dutch State Secretary for Security and Justice; Klaas Dijkhoff speaks about it. At the same time, the Dutch Gaming Authority (KSA) issued an annual report that shows how various illegal operators still control a great part of the country's gaming market. In Dijkhoff's opinion, the new online gaming law preparation will involve a serious amount of work, as the legislator will have to consider many different factors. He says that too strict or expensive requirements may damage the industry and lead to what the law is supposed to control – illegal operators blossoming on the gambling ground. Illegal activities around gambling will be the main problem to deal with for the next few years according to the KSA, as their annual report for 2014 shows that there have been 22 investigations conducted into illegal online gambling and 19 investigations into illegal offering of gambling opportunities to the Dutch citizens. KSA has also closed activities of a large number of local and international operators, offering their cervices to the Dutch gamblers.

The KSA report states that "the estimated result of legal operators (including gaming machines) in 2013 was €2.2 billion," which resulted in tax revenues for €480 million. That's where the illegal operators come to the scene again with the illegal market turnover of €250-€850 million. More than 200 operators have shown their interest in getting a remote gambling license as soon as the new law comes into force. The KSA also warned all the operators that are currently breaching the Dutch law, that "they run the risk that a request for a license under the new Remote Gambling Act will be denied."