Operators in the Netherlands are being given an opportunity to get up to speed before the launch of online gambling legislation in the jurisdiction. The government of the Netherlands has postponed the launch by a month to facilitate the smooth roll out of the rules proposed in the Remote Gambling Act back in February of 2019.
Legal Protection Minister of the Netherlands, Sander Dekker, stated that operators will now not be permitted to begin offering their services to Dutch players until the first day of October 2021. The delay marks the third time the nation has delayed the launch of the Gambling Act according to media sources.
The legislation was originally set to be implemented from January 1, 2020, so as to allow online gambling operators to offer their products in the Netherlands around six months later. The proposed launch event was reportedly pushed back to July 1 some eight months later before experiencing yet another delay to September first owing to stakeholder and regulator concerns linked to the Covid-19 pandemic issues.
Mr. Dekker has explained that his department was trying to have implemented the new legislation by the first day of April in order to allow sports books and online casino operators the ability to legally offer online gambling products to the players in the Netherlands which is now by October first. The Legal Protection Minister has also stated that he decided to implement the new delay as ‘careful implementation takes a little more time’ despite an earlier assertion that ‘implementation is proceeding energetically’
Assuring the public in the Dutch nation Dekker has stated trying to resolve some confusion, “For this reason, we shall postpone the entry into force of the Remote Gambling Act by one month until April 1, 2021, so that the Kansspelautoriteit regulator and the gambling sector have sufficient opportunity for complete preparation. The opening of the market will then take place on October 1, 2021.”