Dutch regulator KSA (Kansspelautoriteit) released its annual report for 2022, the year it issued €29 million in fines for illegal gambling behaviour.
This was the regulator‘s first annual report since the Netherlands’ online gaming market opened in October 2021.
René Jansen, chairman of KSA, said the year presented many opportunities for improvement.
“Over the last few months, I’ve often been asked how I look back on 2022 as the first full calendar year that online gaming was legally offered in the Netherlands,” said Jansen.
“It’s going well, but as a supervisor I also see areas where we need to improve. Much still needs to be done – especially among licensees – to do justice to our Responsible Gaming mission”, he added.
The regulator said 277 preliminary investigations into illegal online sites took place in 2022. Of those, 26 investigations into illegal online providers emerged.
A total of 18 orders of intent – subject to periodic sanctions – were issued throughout the year, which resulted in the application of seven fines totaling 29 million euros.
The KSA also noted that it received 83 notifications about illegal gambling advertisements on social media in 2022. This was 71% less than in 2021. In total, 59 of these were investigated and violations were found in 16.
Applications for licenses registered by the Dutch regulator KSA
KSA said it received 27 applications for licenses online in 2022, compared with 42 in 2021.
Seven of those requests were withdrawn. The KSA said this was because it had made it clear that the applications would not progress. In total, 13 online gaming licenses were granted throughout the year.
Elsewhere, 45 licenses were granted to operate slot machines in 2022. In total, 89 slot machine investigations were completed and 26 of these took place on an interim basis without further consequences.
Seven slot machine permit requests were denied. As for lotteries, the KSA issued 24 licenses in 2022 – 46.6% less than in 2021.
Five existing licenses were revoked in 2022. Dutch regulator KSA explained that this was because the license holder had said its lottery sales were “disappointing”.
