KSA Asks the Netherlands Government for More Powers

The KSA (Kansspelautoriteit or the Netherlands Gambling Authority) has made an "urgent appeal" to the Ministry for Legal Protections to amend the technicalities of the KOA (Remote Gambling Act). The regulator has asked Franc Weerwind to alter the law to allow it access to false ID documents for regulatory purposes. The minister is currently overseeing the alteration of KOA in 2024. 

In its request, KSA wants the government to allow it to generate false IDs for monitoring regulated gambling operators in the country. The organization says this move could help ensure increased compliance in the iGaming industry. 

Currently, the National Identity Agency handles all counterfeit IDs in the Netherlands. All interested parties must seek permission from the regulatory body before using fake documents. If given the green light, the regulator will legally access the required ID data, allowing it to have unlimited access to new online gambling sites in the country. KSA believes that this would make its regulatory duties more efficient. 

In addition, KSA proposes altering the law to allow it direct access to the Control Database of legal online gambling sites and enhance its market analysis capabilities. This change, KSA believes, can give a reliable reference point when setting regulatory policies. 

KSA has also highlighted multiple limitations with CRUKS (Central Register Exclusion Gambling), the country's self-exclusion scheme. The regulatory body says it can take up to six months for registration requests by relatives or operators to be approved.

The regulator also noted:

"Due to the complexity of the process and the brief six-month period of deregistration, its use has been limited. The procedure is too complicated and the period of involuntary deregistration (6 months) is too short". 

KSA has officially notified the government that the current rules on land-based slots need revision. The Netherlands Gambling Authority says these rules no longer align with the current realities of gambling, where there is lots of technological progress. 

This news comes when the Dutch iGaming market has experienced impressive year-on-year growth. In a report published on April 26, 2023, the regulator found that the country's gross gaming revenue increased by 37.7% between January 2022 and January 2023. In addition, the regulator discovered that the number of persons registered on CRUKS had risen to more than 38,000 in April.