The Dutch Gaming Authority has moved against Winbet NV, a company that the watchdog accuses of making unlicensed and unauthorized gambling products available to locals in the Netherlands.
Winbet NV targeted in regulatory enforcement
The games of chance offered on a number of Winbet-operated websites, including doctorspins, superb1, winnercasino and galaxyspins, are not licensed by the regulator and are therefore illegal. The regulator argues that Dutch customers were able to access the websites, make accounts, deposit money, and play.
The watchdog has said that it expects Winbet NV to cease these violations or face €280,000 fine every week for a total of €840,000. The Dutch Gaming Authority argues that no technical measures were used on any of the websites to prevent Dutch players from registering at the websites, which put them in violation of the current gambling laws in the country.
A closer examination of the terms and conditions of the websites in question does note that they are restricted in certain jurisdictions, naming Hong Kong, the United States, Israel, and Serbia, but they make no mention of the Netherlands.
The websites, if in violation of gambling laws as claimed by the regulator, will most likely face the full amount of the penalty. However, it is not clear if the Dutch Gaming Authority has the means to enforce the penalty and ensure compliance.
Gambling companies fall foul of the law in the Netherlands
For the time being, the regulator has been successful in eliciting a response from reputable operators who have challenged the rulings and fines in a court of law – with qualified success.
However, not all operators are necessarily keen to respond to legal pressure by watchdogs from states and jurisdictions. The KSA has limited means of enforcing the penalty as well.
This is not the first instance of a company to be fined in the Netherlands over the past several weeks. Similarly, the KSA acted against NetX Betting Ltd and BlockDance BV most recently.
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