KSA imposes €886,000 fine on 711 B.V. for failing duty of care

The Dutch gambling regulator, Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), has fined online gambling operator 711 B.V. €886,000 for breaches relating to its statutory duty of care towards players. 

The regulatory body announced the penalty on Thursday following a detailed investigation into 711’s handling of customers who show risky gambling behaviour.

Investigation findings

The KSA probe, running from February 2022 to June 2024, focused on how 711 managed player welfare, particularly when spotting and addressing harmful gambling patterns. 

The regulator reviewed ten customer files which were selected based on warning signs such as high financial losses, frequent wagering across multiple days and late-night gambling activity.

In every instance, KSA identified regulatory infringements. The regulator concluded that 711 did not sufficiently analyse users’ gambling behaviours. In doing so, they failed to implement suitable intervention measures and enabled some customers’ gambling habits to “get out of hand”, which resulted in substantial financial losses.

Michel Groothuizen, chair of KSA, contextualised the fine within the regulator’s broader enforcement strategy. 

“We have seen that not all operators organised the duty of care equally well from the opening of the market. We have therefore carried out additional investigations, which now result in several duty-of-care fines,” he said. “At the same time, we have tightened the requirements around the duty of care, to prevent excesses such as those we see here in future.”

711 joins Novatech and Polymarket

KSA is not afraid to impose enforcement. In March of this year, the regulator imposed a record fine of €25 million on Novatech for alleged illegal operations. Novatech was found to have allowed Dutch users to register, deposit and gamble without implementing sufficient geo-blocking or age-verification measures.  

A similar story played out in February when KSA imposed a penalty order on the prediction market platform Polymarket. The platform was obligated to cease operations in the country or risk a fine up to €84 million. KSA said Adventure One QSS, the company behind Polymarket, had been operating the brand in the Netherlands without a gambling licence. 

KSA has emphasised that licensed operators must proactively identify and respond to signs of gambling-related harm. This includes behavioural monitoring, targeted interventions and, where necessary, imposing account restrictions or exclusions on players.

A familiar fine for TOTO online 

Additionally this week, KSA reported TOTO online for violating the role model ban. The Nederlandse Loterij platform promoted their products via social media channels using eight professional football clubs. The clubs stated that people could win a club shirt signed by players if they placed a bet of five euros at TOTO Online.  

The use of “role models” in gambling advertisements is banned as part of the Netherlands’ efforts to protect young people. Meryam Sümer of the CDA (Christian Democratic Party) has called for the minimum age for gambling to be raised from 18 to 24. 

Sümer advocates for tighter regulation saying “the key is to reduce temptations”. She aims to shield young people from temptations that may lead to problematic gambling or debt accumulation. 

This is not the first time TOTO has been in trouble with KSA. The platform was fined in 2022 for a similar endeavour – gambling advertisements that were seemingly aimed at young people. 

KSA has not detailed the specific intervention failures by 711, nor has the operator issued a public response accompanying the regulator’s announcement.