Remote gambling: Information for the potential provider
The Ksa already has a number of administrative instruments at its disposal under the current statutory regime. These include the imposition of fines. The expansion of the Betting and Gaming Act will convey additional powers.
In future, the Ksa will be able to issue binding instructions compelling payment service providers, marketing companies and other facility services to cease offering services to unlicensed betting and gaming operators.
It will also be possible to compel app stores to prohibit apps that can be used for betting and gaming. As things stand, payment service providers and app stores occasionally offer cooperation to this end already, albeit on a voluntary basis.
What will this expansion of the Betting and Gaming Act do in terms of preventing gambling addiction?
Dutch legislation may soon be the strictest in Europe with regard to the prevention of gambling addiction. In the near future, licensed operators of risky games of chance will be required to contribute to an as-yet-to-be-established Addiction Prevention Fund.
While the specifics of this fund have yet to be determined, the money will in any case be used to support anonymous treatment, research and a future national betting and gaming service point.
A Central Exclusion Register (Cruks) will be created as well. All licensed betting and gaming operators must be affiliated with this register, in which players can be registered – either voluntarily or involuntarily – so that they are precluded from betting and gaming for a specified period of time.
In addition, every licensed operators needs to establish a Control Database.This will provide the Ksa with access to digital data on betting in order to assess whether those operators are in compliance with the applicable conditions pertaining to addiction prevention and other regulations.
No. There will be what is referred to as an open system. Any business that feels it meets the licensing conditions is free to submit an application. It is not necessary for a company to currently be an operator of online games of chance in order to be eligible for a licence. The Ksa will issue the licences. When it will be possible to submit an application is not yet known at this time.
After the law takes effect, how will players know whether they are dealing with a licensed operator?
In any case, the Ksa will publish a list of licensed betting and gambling operators on its website. Betting and gaming operators will also be required to provide a clear reference to their licensed status, such as a link to the list on the Ksa's website. The Ksa is also exploring the possibility of a logo that can be displayed by licensed operators. Such logos are already in use in various other countries.