Netherlands Gambling Authority hits Techno Offshore with €1.2m fine

• Techno Offshore Limited hit with penalty in the Netherlands
• The company received a €1.2m fine after multiple regulatory interventions
• KSA remains determined to uproot illegal gambling in the country

The Netherlands Gambling Authority (KSA) has issued a new enforcement action against an operator that it has deemed to have been operating illegally in the country.

The most recent penalty was issued against Techno Offshore Limited, which was accused of offering illegal gambling to Dutch customers through the nolimitbet dot com domain, as well as the simplecasino dot com domain.

KSA investigates suspected illegal gambling operator

According to the regulator, which detailed the case in a statement and a detailed breakdown of the investigation it conducted, the websites had failed to keep Dutch players out and found other faults with their offers, including the use of auto and turbo play features.

There were unsatisfactory age checks as well, which further contributed to the regulator’s decision to sanction the operator and its brands.

KSA Chair Michel Groothuizen had this to add, commenting on the company’s case:

"Licensed providers in the Netherlands must comply with all kinds of rules to protect players from gambling addiction.

With illegal providers, we often see that no account is taken of the prevention of risky gaming behavior, for example, by not using age verification, enabling payments with crypto or a lack of gaming limits.

We take tough action against these types of parties, because they attract players to illegal offerings and players are insufficiently protected there."

The regulator went to further elaborate on its process, arguing that it was able to deposit €20, and that it was able to find terms and conditions on the website published partially in English and partially in Dutch, which the regulator considered to be in violation of market rules.

Lack of compliance on Techno Offshore Ltd’s part

The two websites had various parts of their overall casinos available in Dutch, whether that had to do with the payment methods, general terms, or some other section of the casino.

More importantly, the regulator did not find an explicit statement that the Netherlands was excluded from the territories and jurisdictions where the websites were allowed to operate and whose players were excluded from play.

The current decision is based on an initial investigation conducted in April last year, when the €20 was deposited as part of the regulator's investigation. A follow-up enforcement action took place in June.

Techno Offshore Limited was served with a cease-and-desist letter, which was then followed-up by another cease-and-desist letter this February.

The regulator has reminded players to only stick to regulated and licensed online casinos in the Netherlands. The regulator recently took action against 20 illegal gambling apps which were taken down from the Google and Apple Store.

Image credit: Unsplash.com