The Dutch regulator, Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), has revealed that it has so far received 28 individual operator applications to join the newly regulated Dutch online gambling market.
This comes after the KSA launched the licensing process earlier this month following a last-minute delay due to technical issues with the licensing portal.
KSA receives 28 applications
The Dutch regulator confirmed that it has received 28 applications for online gambling licenses since launching the licensing process.
In its announcement, the 28 applicants have all paid the required licensing fee of €48,000 (£41,578) as part of their submission.
In March, the KSA said that it expected to receive roughly 40 licence applications and would grant about 35 licences.
The KSA’s confirmation serves as an update on its licensing process which launched on 1 April, which brought the country’s Remote Gambling Act (KOA Act) to life.
In its update to stakeholders, René Jansen, chairman of the board of the KSA, said he is satisfied with the provisional number of applications.
Jansen said: “The intention of the law is to channel players from illegal providers to legally reliable providers. With this number of applications, I am confident that there will soon be a sufficiently attractive and varied offer to achieve this objective.”
All applicants must guarantee that they have met all of the KOA Act’s pre-market technical requirements in regards to maintaining customer databases and connecting their online platforms with the Cruks national self-exclusion service.
Amendments to the KOA Act also state that applicants must provide a “quality assurance document” which must be verified and approved by an independent auditor.
On top of this, applicants must register and disclose their Dutch officer who will act as a legal representative of the business when it comes to activities in their market activities and regulatory disciplines.
The KSA added: “The law modernises Dutch games of chance policy. The legalization and regulation of online games of chance is the most eye-catching innovation.
“The law also tightens up the requirements in the field of addiction prevention for all high-risk games of chance (online and land-based). Additional and new provisions will also apply in the field of advertising and recruitment.”
When will the market go live?
The country’s newly regulated online gambling market is set to officially launch on 1 October 2021.
Initially, the market was meant to launch on 1 January 2021 and the Dutch gambling law was previously set to come into effect from July 2020.
However, the passage of the law was delayed on three occasions and finally came into effect on 1 April 2021. As a result of this, the launch date was pushed back to October.