The Kansspelautoriteit has issued a cease and desist order to LCS Limited after it was discovered that the operator group was illegally offering online games of chance within the Netherlands.
Should the Malta Gaming Authority licensed firm not adhere to the order, the Dutch regulator noted that the company will have to pay a penalty of €55,000 per week or part of the week. The penalty can amount to a maximum of almost €165,000.
Since 1 October 2021, online games of chance in the Netherlands have been legalised under strict conditions with a key objective of creating a safe digital gambling ecosystem.
LCS, which becomes the latest group to be issued with a cease and desist order by the Ksa, counts the SvenPlay, Sons of Slots, Lapilanders and Nucleonbet casinos as part of its stable.
“The Ksa has established that LCS Limited offers games of chance to Dutch consumers via at least one website,” the Ksa noted upon disclosure of the regulatory update.
“LCS Limited is not licensed to do so. As a result, no supervision is possible, which means that there is no control over, among other things, the fairness of the game and whether sufficient attention is paid to addiction prevention.”
Last month, the KSA issued an update on the Dutch Cruks self exclusion register, as the regulator urged online games providers to note the results of a recent study regarding the protection of customers.
This research, said the regulator, demonstrated that the Netherlands “is not out of step with its laws and regulations when it comes to protecting players against the unwanted effects of gambling”.
The study, conducted by the Dutch Gambling Authority, examined the implementation of the duty of care to prevent gambling addiction in 21 European countries.
The aim was to gain more insight into how this is fulfilled and implemented across other regions, as the Ksa looks to learn lessons from those jurisdictions that possess a more established online gambling ecosystem.
