Netherlands iGaming Industry Suffers More Launch Delays

In the last few years, a number of governing bodies have shifted their focus towards the gambling industry.

Online gambling is thriving and it’s time to either take control of the market or update regulations to ban it completely.

The Netherlands is among the many that opted for regulating the industry, although the launch of this regulated industry continues to be delayed.

Further Delays With Pushback of KOA

The Dutch Remote Gambling Act (KOA) was set to come into law on the 1st of March 2021 after the initial pushback.

Minister for Legal Protection, Sander Dekker, announced earlier this year that the law will instead be pushed by 1 month, only coming into effect on the 1st of April 2021. The intention is to provide operators, authorities, and others within the industry a chance to get accustomed to the new regulatory changes.

It will also ensure that operators have one additional month to submit their licensing applications to the Dutch Gaming Authority. Where the market was expected to open on the 1st of September, it will now launch on the 1st of October.

All About Careful Implementation

Dekker has made it clear that there are no bad intentions or reasons other than ensuring careful implementation of the new online gaming laws in play.

According to Dekker, the additional time is needed to ensure such thorough implementation which will ultimately lead to a stronger regulatory environment.

The implementation is proceeding energetically but as it is done carefully as it is taking longer than expected.

It has been made clear that public interest in games of chance policy are best served with rapid entry into force, it was necessary to push back by another month. This is solely to give the KSA and the gambling sector enough time to complete the necessary preparations before the market opens on the 1st of October 2021.

A String of Delays

Unfortunately, this was not the first in the set of delays for the implementation of the KOA Act. Initially, it was scheduled to be entered into law on the 1st of July 2020 with the market expected to open on the 1st of January 2021.

The COVID-19 pandemic caused a delay in these plans resulting in the launch date pushed to July 2021. Then in September, again it was pushed back even more. Currently, the market is expected to open on the 1st of October 2021, a month later than expected last.

If all goes according to plan, there should be no further delays and the Netherlands online gaming market should launch on time.