Dutch gambling regulator de Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) has fined online gaming operator Bingoal €350,000 (£310,721/$376,164) after ruling it breached regulations by failing to consult the Cruks self-exclusion system when registering new players.
The failure related to a specific period in June 2022, during which KSA said Bingoal allowed players to register for an account on its igaming website without cross-checking with Cruks.
Licensed operators in the Netherlands must be connected with Cruks and use the system to ensure any consumers attempting to register for an account or gambling have not signed up for the national self-exclusion scheme.
In order to consult Cruks, licensed operators must hold a valid public key infrastructure (PKI) certificate. KSA said during the period in question, Bingoal’s certificate had expired and could therefore not run the required checks on players.
The regulator said it took Bingoal approximately three days to secure a new certificate and regain access to Cruks.
However, KSA said as Bingoal still accepted new users and allowed them to gamble without consulting Cruks, this constituted a breach of regulations and licensee requirements.
“Bingoal should not have done that; the law says that a player may only gain access to a high-risk game of chance after a game provider has determined that the player in question is not registered in Cruks,” KSA said.
“Cruks is an important tool to combat gambling addiction and to protect players against the undesirable effects of gambling.”
Bingoal has lodged an appeal against the ruling.
