The Netherlands renews attempts to amend to remote online gambling bill

The Dutch Parliament’s long-pending efforts to amend the country’s Remote Online Gambling Bill are getting a new fillip. Sander Dekker, Netherlands’ Minister for Legal Protection is trying to restart the bill and get it moving once again.

Dekker has already written a letter to Dutch Legislators, which is intended to breathe life into the stagnant Gambling Bill. Some of the new provisions could help illegal gambling operators as well which is bound to spark controversy. The idea is to call on illegal operators and operators who were penalised in the past and allow them to apply for a remote license.

Many members of the Netherlands Tweede (House of Representatives) will be annoyed by this as they have placed sanctions against those unlicensed operators. Most of these sanctions were strict and included bans from the regulated online gambling market in the Netherlands.

Nevertheless, Dekker’s legislations sparked interest and led to a meeting between the Committee of Justice and Security which will happen on the 13th of September. Joop Pot from the Netherlands Gambling Authority confirmed this while speaking at iGB Live in Amsterdam. Dekker’s proposals will be discussed at the meeting and Pot has called on all gambling providers to be a part of it. According to him “The best solution usually comes from a joint effort.”

On top of that, Pot explained that Dekker’s proposal definitely has the power to get the bill in front of the upper house. However, he also believes that bigger barriers between gambling and social gaming should be introduced. This is reflected in the change the Netherlands Gaming Authority recently made when they changed their name to the Netherlands Gambling Authority.

Source: casinopedia.org / Ollie Oshibote