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The Dutch gambling regulator has said it is happy with the effects of its controversial affordability regime despite worrying revenue trends, arguing that it has reduced dangerous gambling.
From October last year, rules introduced by the Netherlands Gambling Authority (KSA) set monthly deposit limits of €300 for those aged 18-24 and €700 for older adults.
The thresholds can be lifted, but only if a gambler is willing to give an operator evidence of their income.
The policy appeared to have a disastrous impact on the online casino sector in particular, with revenues down 20 percent in the months after the new regulations were introduced, leading to fears of high spending gamblers shifting to the black market.
But a leading official at the KSA said that, while there have been some “ups and downs” in the market since the affordability rules came into effect, “we don’t really see the impact that was predicted by the industry”.
Peter Rampertaap, who oversees duty of care compliance monitoring at the regulator, said the authority is measuring the success of the affordability rules by a decrease in the number of people making large deposits.
“As a regulator, I get complaints from players that they have lost a lot of money and the operator didn’t intervene. Before the new guidelines I got two to three every month and after the guidelines we haven’t received any,” he said, speaking this week at iGB L!ve in London.
In an update posted on the KSA’s website, the regulator said that only 2.2 percent of players now deposited more than the standard monthly limit, compared with 9.7 percent before affordability checks were introduced.
For younger players, fewer than 2 percent are exceeding the €300 threshold.
Average losses per player have also fallen by 31 percent to an average of €80 per month, the KSA said.
The regulator also noted that there has been no evidence of players opening large numbers of new accounts with multiple operators to dodge the deposit limits.
But it remains unclear if that reduction in spend is being matched by a rise in revenue for the black market.
The KSA says that 93 percent of players are being channelled to licensed operators, but Rampertaap admitted that the most recent figures showed that just 50 percent of Dutch gross gambling revenue (GGR) was being generated in the legal market.
The regulator has not updated its GGR channelisation estimates recently and says it is working on a new methodology which will be published this summer.
However the KSA noted that its research shows internet searches for the 100 largest black market operators have increased since the new affordability rules came into effect in October.
The regulator will address this finding and its new revenue numbers in an impact assessment on the recent tax increase, with rates having risen to 34.2 percent of GGR this year, rising again to 37.8 percent in 2026.
Despite these worrying statistics and an insistence by the licensed industry that high rollers are heading offshore, Rampertaap indicated that the KSA is looking to expand the programme.
The regulator is investigating how operators can use other factors to determine the financial and social impact of gambling on an individual and may roll out new rules requiring new kinds of checks, he said.
Moves to tighten Dutch gambling regulations are taking place against a backdrop of continued political malice towards the industry.
Politicians are still demanding tougher rules, including a concerted push for deposit limits to be applied cross-operator.
Additional restrictions seem inevitable, particularly given the Dutch government’s recent decision to focus on reducing harm as its primary gambling policy goal.
July also sees the final stage of the Netherlands’ limits on un-targeting advertising take effect, with a ban on gambling sponsorships in sport in effect from the 1st of this month.
More enforcement is also on the way, with Rampertaap revealing that his department is investigating at least six operators for potentially violating their duty of care requirements.
A further unspecified number of licensees are also already under investigation for failing to follow affordability rules, he said.
