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Malta-based Gammix Limited is fighting back against a cease and desist order from the Netherlands Gambling Authority (KSA) for offering online games without a licence, but could face millions of euros in fines.
Gammix Limited will have to pay a penalty of €1.47m a week if it does not comply with the order. The penalty can reach a maximum of €4.41m.
However, Phil Pearson, the director of Gammix, told VIXIO GamblingCompliance that the operator has not allowed registrations from the Netherlands during the dates stated in the sanction decision.
“We refute the claims by the KSA and we are respectfully drafting a response and an immediate appeal. The majority of the claims are unproven and unfounded which we will show via a reply to the regulator,” Pearson said.
A legal objection to the decision can be sent to the KSA’s legal department within six weeks of it being announced.
In the sanction decision, the KSA’s executive board says “there is no reason to presume that the sanction decision will not stand in court” as the violation has been “sufficiently demonstrated”.
Twice in March 2022, a KSA supervisor investigated the websites of Gammix Limited and was able to access them to create a player account, make a deposit and participate in online games, according to the sanction decision.
“No technical measures have been taken to prevent participants from the Netherlands from accessing the games of chance,” the decision states.
On March 1, the regulator says a supervisor using a Dutch IP address was forwarded to a Dutch bank after they were able to register an account, with the instructions for making a minimum deposit given in the Dutch language.
On May 24, the regulator performed another check on a separate website run by Gammix and again found several examples of characteristics it determined were being used to target Dutch consumers, it says.
The regulator also investigated the number of visits to the websites from the Netherlands.
From May 16 to June 11, 2022, www.nordslot.com had a total of 24,911 visits from the Netherlands and www.rantcasino.com had a total of 31,328 visits, the regulator said.
On April 12, the KSA sent a letter to Gammix informing it of its intentions to impose the penalty, to which the operator had two weeks to reply.
On April 29, the KSA agreed to the operator’s request to extend the response period by two weeks. The KSA then received a response on May 12.
Gammix argued in its response that it offers gambling in accordance with EU law, does not target particular games to the Netherlands, its domain has no association with the country, does not advertise in the country and it does not accept the iDEAL payment system
Gammix Limited is licensed by the Malta Gaming Authority.
