KSA goes after Gammix with cease and desist order

The Netherlands seldom shows any leniency when the safety of consumers is concerned. This is why the regulator, Kansspelautoriteit, has taken the latest move against what it considers to be an unregulated operator targeting Dutch consumers. The KSA has issued a cease and desist order to Gammix, an operator of gambling products that owns and runs www.nordslot.com and rantcasino.com.

The company itself holds a license from the Malta Gaming Authority. Should Gammix fails to comply, the company will issue financial penalties to the tune of €1.47m ($1.48m) weekly for every week that the company fails to comply. The maximum applicable penalty has been capped at €4.5m ($4.3m) for the time being but this does not mean that it won’t be increased.

Gammix may still appeal the decision and try to overturn the order that is dated back to April 12, 2022, when the company was informed that it needs to withdraw from the market. The KSA is using its remit to ensure that a website that seems to be targeting Dutch players can be pursued legally and asked to stop pursuing business models that the regulator deems are harmful to consumers.

The KSA similarly believes that because the website uses iDEAL, a popular payment option in the Netherlands, and the specific choice of tulip and windmill designing elements, Gammix has been targeting customers from the country. Meanwhile, the watchdog remains firmly committed to ensuring that it is protecting consumers in the regulated market as well.

One of the watchdog’s main concerns as of the time of writing is to probe advertisementpractices and whether they meet all necessary standards in the country. This has been going on for a while now with the regulator issuing a warning back in February and warning companies against advertisement practices that exceeded their permissions.

Since then, the regulator has been actively pursuing various adjustments to the gambling sector, including a call for action from affiliate marketing companies that are working with gambling operators to drive traffic and awareness for their brands. Some measures have been struck down as too restrictive or threatening to backfire on consumers, such as the rumored mandatory loss limits which were dismissed in public.

The KSA continues to probe advertisement standards in the country in the interim and has targeted all forms of advertisement, specifically how gambling companies reach out to consumers on social media through promotions.

Meanwhile, the Netherlands is already pitching a proposal that will make all forms of untargeted gambling advertising illegal come January 1, 2023, should an amendment to the Wrvk Decree goes through. The measure is proposed by Minister for Legal Protection Franc Weerwind.

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