The Dutch gambling authority KSA has issued its biggest ever fine to a company offering online gambling in the Netherlands without a permit.
Novatech operates the websites Qbet.com and 55Bet.com and has now been told to pay almost €25 million for its illegal operations.
The regulator said Dutch gamblers can easily set up an account on the sites and make payments, and there were no barriers in place to stop access from the Netherlands. Nor do the sites offer any form of age verification.
They also allowed payment using cryptocurrencies and anonymous methods, which are often used for money laundering.
This, the KSA said, is why the fine is so high. Dutch law allows a fine of up to 10% of annual turnover.
A second company, Fortaprime, has been fined almost €1.8 million for targeting Dutch punters with a string of unlicensed websites.
Dutch News has asked the KSA what options it has to make sure the fines are paid.
The KSA estimates that 53% of all money spent on online gambling goes to illegal sites, even though 94% of gamblers stick to licensed companies. This means a small group is responsible for a large share of illegal website income.
The Dutch cabinet has been taking steps to reduce the problems caused by online gambling, including raising the minimum age for “risky” games to 21 and imposing limits on how much people can gamble on each site they visit.
Advertising has also been further restricted, and gamblers who fear they are becoming addicted can sign up to be banned from the legal circuit – something over 100,000 people have already done.
Legal online gambling was introduced in the Netherlands in 2021, with the government arguing that a regulated market would make it easier to help people who were gambling illegally on foreign websites.
Instead, a series of reports has shown that the measures have led to a surge in gambling addiction and rising debts. In total, 27 companies offering 37 different labels now hold licences to operate in the Netherlands.
