The Dutch Gaming Authority, Kansspelautoriteit, recently introduced a new set of online gambling regulations that has resulted in a number of gaming operators leaving the local iGaming market.
The new rules, that came into effect on Thursday, 1st June 2017, saw Royal Panda Online Casino inform its affiliates and customers that it would no longer be accepting Dutch players.
Royal Panda Online Casino was launched in the year 2014 and is licensed by the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA). The license allows Royal Panda Casino to provide its services in a number of European jurisdictions.
Royal Panda Online Casino has asked its affiliates to remove all Dutch targeting promotional content from their website in an endeavor to comply with the new online gambling regulations.
The new move by the Dutch Gaming Authority has further resulted in several more Dutch-facing brands such as FortuinCasino and PolderCasino also shutting down their operations. The two online casinos are also licensed by the Malta Gaming Authority.
The announcement by Kansspelautoriteit of the new online regulations came as a surprise to operators, leaving them with very limited time to prepare themselves.
The new rules do not allow the use of Dutch-targeting promotion websites with an .nl web extension that redirect to .com sites nor the use of visual elements that represent typical Dutch symbols. These rules are in addition to the authority’s previous principles of regulating the provision of online gambling options. The regulator has also stressed that any operators who fail to block Dutch players from gaining access to their gambling websites would be sanctioned.
