Gaming Authority fines illegal gambling sites for more than 26 million euros 14:43 in Economy The companies did not have a license to offer games of chance on their websites.

The Gaming Authority has fined five illegal gambling companies a total of 26 million euros. They do not have a license for their sites, so players are not assured of a fair game. They are also not protected against a gambling addiction.

The fines vary from 900,000 euros to more than 12 million euros and are based, among other things, on the turnover achieved by gambling companies in the Netherlands. The Gaming Authority also looked at whether there were circumstances that would justify a higher fine.

Dormant account, pay

For example, N1 Interactive was fined more than 12 million euros because the company had already violated the rules once before. Videoslots has to pay almost 10 million because they used the logo of the Gaming Authority on their site. As a result, the company suggested that there was indeed a permit.

Several sites charged players with a dormant account a monthly fee of 5 euros after a certain period. According to the Gaming Authority, this is unacceptable, because players will then be punished if they do not gamble enough. According to the regulator, the companies also did too little to keep minors from their sites.

Pain in the wallet

“A fine is to hit where it hurts, so in the wallet,” says René Jansen, chairman of the Gaming Authority. “With such amounts, we think we can impose an appropriate sanction, given the illegal earnings.”

Online gambling has been legal in the Netherlands since October 2021, but only if the provider has a permit. Since that opening, many more Dutch people have started gambling, especially young adults. All illegal sites that have now been fined operate from Malta.