The Kindred Group continue to have problems with regulatory authorities. After deciding that Unibet would leave the German market, they were granted a licence to again operate in the Netherlands. It took just one day for them to start receiving complaints.
Unibet’s sportsbook had previously been available in the Netherlands. A six-month break was then taken until they resumed their service on July 1. The Dutch gambling regulator KSA is now investigating complaints about the bonuses offered on the Unibet site.
The KSA have been in touch with Unibet following the complaints. The betting company are now “working to resolve” the issues that have been bought to their attention. Customers have beeen told they can get in touch with Unibet’s help centre for further information.
It’s not just Unibet who are having problems. The KSA have issued a cease and desist order against Gammix. They don’t have a local licence and the company who are based in Malta, have been told to stop offering gaming to Dutch customers until they have a licence.
Both rantcasino.com and nordslot.com are run by Gammix. The two sites have been the subject of an investigation by the KSA and this was carried out in March. They found that if having a Dutch IP address, it was possible to create an account with the sites, place funds in that account and then bet on the site.
A further check was made on May 24 when, despite having a Dutch address and putting that down as their nationality, they could still make deposits and play games. The KSA also discovered that those resident in the Netherlands had made 24,911 visits to nordslot.com and 31,328 visits to the rantcasino site between May 16 and June 11.
It looks as if Gammix may well be advised to stop Dutch players using those sites. The KSA have said they’ll fine Gammix up to 1.4 million euros a week and up to 4.5 million euros if in two weeks time the sites are still accessible.
Meanwhile, the Dutch government are getting tough with gambling advertisements shown on television. Such advertising will be banned from January 2023. Since the regulated online gambling market was launched last October, there’s been a big increase in the number of advertisements. Gambling sponsorship of sport is also being banned and that will start at the beginning of 2025.
Similar actions are possible in the UK as we wait for the White Paper on the reform of gambling laws to be released. That is likely to take place sometime in the second half of July.
