Netherlands votes in favour of online gambling verification motion

The Netherlands House of Representatives voted in favour of a motion to impose age verification procedures on online gambling yesterday (15 October).

The motion, submitted by Christian Union representative Don Ceder, called on the government to impose legally guaranteed, privacy friendly and reliable age verification procedures for online gambling and websites with pornographic content.

It comes as the Netherlands mulls various types of regulatory tightening amid perceived failures now three years on from the launch of the legal gambling market in October 2021.

The motion is also the second calling for stricter gambling rules this month, after two Dutch representatives called for an end to the regulated gambling market last week.

Motions in the House of Representatives are non-binding resolutions in which politicians can express their views on government policy.

Motion notes planned Netherlands alcohol verification rules

The document noted legislative processes for online alcohol sales and “buy now, pay later” services are currently being drawn up by the government.

It also highlighted new incoming European-wide rules that would restrict social media services for underage users, which are being imposed as amendments to the Digital Services Act.

In this context, the motion said Dutch minors still have easy access to online gambling or pornographic websites.

This, it argued, is in contrast to other European countries that are developing legislation to protect underage web users including Spain, France and the UK.

As such, Ceder and his co-submitter New Social Contract representative JPS Six Dijkstra, called on the government to impose new controls.

The two politicians tabled a similar motion in May this year, also calling for stricter age verification checks.

The country’s government is writing up plans to hike the gaming tax to 37.8% from 30.5%, which was agreed as part of the May coalition agreement.

This comes as gambling trade bodies warn high-spending players are increasingly turning towards the black market, with a 13% black market GGR share rising slightly in 2024.

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