Dutch regulator issues fines for illegal gaming machines
Dutch gambling regulator the Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) has cracked down on illegal gaming machine operations in the country, by issuing fines of €86,528 and €11,056 to the guilty parties.
The KSA handed the larger of the two fines to Speelautomatenhal Schinveld B.V., after a regulatory investigation determined that the operator had been running 45 slot machines at an entertainment centre in the municipality of Schinveld.
According to the regulator, investigators visited the facility and found Schinveld B.V. had taken over the slot machines from another party but did not have the relevant licence to operate them.
KSA officials visited the location on a second occasion, and the operator was still running the machine without a licence – placing them in breach of Article 30h of the Dutch Gambling Act.
Alongside the €86,528 (£71,996/$93,807) penalty, the gaming machines in question have been sold to a party holding the relevant operating licence.
The second fine of €11,056 was imposed on an unnamed individual, who was found to have continued operating a number of gaming machines in across locations in Amsterdam, despite their licence having been withdrawn.
The regulator located the machines inside four cafes within the Amsterdam area. As such, the KSA said the individual was also in breach of Article 30h of the Dutch Gambling Act and ordered them to pay a fine.
The latest rulings come after the KSA last month revealed that it imposed fines worth a combined €3.5m in 2019, a 105.8% increase from 2018. In total, the regulator issued 10 fines during the course of the year.
This month, KSA chairman René Jansen called for operators considering applying for licences for the country’s new legal online gambling market to be responsible with their activities, saying the regulator will adopt a “strict but fair” oversight of the sector.
The country’s regulated online gambling market is scheduled to open on 1 July 2021, with the KSA to begin accepting licence applications from 1 January 2021.