NETHERLANDS Law and Practice Contributed by: Alan Littler, Justin Franssen and Chris Adriaansz, Franssen Tolboom
ures) would, when taken in relation to one brand, apply to all brands that are supplied on the basis of the same single licence. In this scenario, the brands operating under the white-label licence will be unable to compete with each other. The “one player account” rule, combined with the lack of a B2B licensing regime, makes life difficult for white-label providers that would ordinarily obtain a licence and offer turnkey solutions to numerous par- ties. 6.5 Technical Measures In terms of locally unlicensed offers, the NGA takes the position that operators are in breach of the BGA by being available to Dutch customers, even when such offers are only passively available. This means that operators who neither use geo-blocking instruments nor prevent the registration of Dutch customers are at a greater risk of enforcement measures being taken. The NGA has the ability to issue binding instructions to intermediaries, such as affiliates and PSPs, to hin- der the ability of a B2C operator to reach consumers in the Netherlands. However, the NGA is not allowed to use a binding instruction in order to force a black- out of certain websites ‒ for example, via an IP (inter- net protocol) or domain name system (DNS) block. A change on this front is currently being discussed (see 1.1 Current Outlook and Recent Changes ). In relation to.nl domains, the NGA may contact the entity managing the registration of.nl domain names to ensure that unlicensed gambling content is no longer available in the Netherlands. 7. Responsible Gambling (RG), Also Known as Safer Gambling (SG) 7.1 RG Requirements All licensed operators are subject to an “active duty of care” to prevent gambling addiction. Furthermore, remote gambling licence holders are required to have at least one addiction prevention representative for the Dutch market. According to the Remote Gambling Decree (RGD), the representative does not need to be a resident of – nor be established in – the Nether-
lands. Instead, the representative must be sufficiently present in the Netherlands to carry out their duties. Further details are included in the Policy Rule on Responsible Gambling. Furthermore, the BGA has introduced several tools to combat gambling addiction. One of these tools is the CRUKS ( Centraal Register Uitsluiting Kansspelen ) sys - tem. Land-based casinos, land-based slot-machine arcade operators and remote gambling operators must check whether a player is registered in CRUKS before admitting the player. Players who are registered in CRUKS, regardless of whether registration was voluntary or involuntary, must not be granted access to these games of chance. In July 2025, there were 100,060 individuals registered in CRUKS. There are other requirements designed to protect players from engaging in excessive participation. Remote gambling licence holders, for example, may not personalise bonuses based on the behaviour of an individual player. This includes offering a bonus, as well as tailoring the amount of the bonus, based on the player’s behaviour – for example, offering a bonus when the player has incurred a significant loss or leaves the game. Furthermore, licence holders will not be able to offer an individual player a bonus for a certain period of time after a responsible gambling intervention meas- ure has been taken. The more severe the intervention measure, the greater the length of the period of time On 1 October 2024, further addiction-prevention measures entered into force. The most notable chang- es required that: • remote gambling licence holders ensure a neutral environment where players can set profile limits (deposit limit, account balance limit and log-in time limit); licence holders are, for example, prohibited from providing pre-filled suggestions for deposit limits; • remote gambling licence holders require players to take up contact with the licence holder if the player wants to set a deposit limit of more than EUR350 a during which no bonuses can be offered. 7.2 Gambling Management Tools
354 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook