The Dutch government will introduce a reworked gambling bill by the end of this year. The goal is to tighten regulations and strengthen consumer protections. This comes amid concerns over rising gambling-related harm.
State Secretary for Legal Protection Teun Struycken has announced the proposal. This would expand the enforcement powers of the Netherlands’ gambling regulator, KSA or Kansspelautoriteit. The bill would allow the KSA to block illegal gambling websites and increase oversight of the legal market. It would also grant access to more gambling provider data for research purposes.
Michel Groothuizen, KSA Chair praised the proposed measures, saying they aligned with the key priorities of the regulator. Groothuizen stated that they are satisfied to see many of their priority topics also on the State Secretary’s list.
He has highlighted specific measures advocated by the KSA. These include the ability to use fake IDs for supervision tests, streamlining involuntary registrations in the Cruks self-exclusion system, as well as expanding research access to gambling data.
Groothuizen also backed the proposal to raise the minimum age for online slots from 18 to 21. It says that it sent a strong signal to young people. He noted that raising the drinking age had led to a decline in underage drinking, drawing parallel to alcohol laws.
The KSA has raised alarms about the growing presence of illegal gambling operators. A revised revenue analysis showed that only 50% of gambling funds remain within the legal market, while 91% of Dutch players still gamble legally. This is a significant drop from recent estimates of over 80%.
Groothuizen admitted that that was a bit of a shock for us too.
The new bill is expected to introduce numerous major regulatory changes. These include stronger restrictions on high-risk gambling products, specifically online slots. The goal is to curb addiction.
The second change is raising the minimum gambling age from 18 to 21 for high-risk activities. The third is implementing advertising controls by shifting to a “prohibited unless permitted” model.
The fourth measure introduces a central deposit limit linked to financial capacity tests to prevent excessive losses. Lastly, authorities will gain increased enforcement powers to crack down on illegal operators. This includes action against payment processors and internet platforms that support unlicensed gambling.
