The Advisory Board on Regulatory Burden has questioned the need for the measures.

The Netherlands.- The Dutch Advisory Board on Regulatory Burden (ATR), an independent watchdog that monitors regulatory burdens on businesses, consumers and the public sector, has questioned the need for proposed new regulations for online gambling. It suggests that the new requirements would represent an unnecessary technical burden for operators.

Legal protection minister Franc Weerwind has proposed monthly financial risk checks on customer accounts when spending surpasses €350 and a mandatory €150 loss limit for players aged under 24. Operators would also need to ensure that trained staff contact customers one-to-one every 30 minutes to provide care warnings.

However, the ATR asked whether technical challenges had been considered and questioned whether the measures would have the intended results. It highlighted a report suggesting that up to 5 per cent of players would be likely to increase their deposit limits to avoid controls. It also noted that Kindred Group has estimated that it would need to increase its customer care headcount by half to meet the requirement for care warnings.

It suggested that it could be easier and more effective to prohibit high play limits, eliminating the need to increase staffing. The body said it was in favour of a ban on gambling advertising.

Meanwhile, the chairman of the Dutch gambling regulator KSA has suggested that more responsible gambling controls are needed at land-based gambling venues. Speaking at the Casino Operations Summit in Amsterdam, he said the KSA’s inspections were working against unlicensed operations but that regulated land-based venues needed to do more.