KSA Warns Online Casino over Unavailable Customer Service

The Dutch Gaming Authority (Kansspelautoriteit/KSA) announced that it warned an operator about a customer service violation. According to the regulator, the gambling company’s customer service was not available at all, which constitutes a violation of the Netherlands’ gambling rules. As a result, the operator risks a penalty if the mistake isn’t rectified.

Customer Service Was Unavailable

The gambling operator in question is Noord Zuid Alliantie, which operates the Lucky 7 Casino brand.

According to the KSA, when officials tried to contact its customer service, they were greeted by a recording telling them that there was no one available. To make matters worse, the automatic message was in English, even though local operators are required to offer customer service in Dutch.

Speaking of which, the KSA also understood that all safer gambling information and educational resources were in English, which is yet another violation.

The KSA emphasized that companies holding a license must make sure that customer service in the Dutch language is always available to answer players’ questions. It added that this aligns with operators’ duty of care and their responsibility to help people exclude themselves from gambling, if needed, or at least ask questions about their gaming behavior.

Operators in the Netherlands must also make sure that their websites are also available in Dutch.

The KSA clarified that it contacted Noord Zuid Alliantie about the shortcomings in compliance. Following a discussion with the Dutch regulator, the operator of Lucky 7 Casino quickly took action to rectify the accessibility and language issues.

The Operator Risks Regulatory Action in Case of Repeated Failures

The KSA added that it received separate reports about self-exclusion failures that allowed players to gamble even after excluding themselves from gambling. The operator also allegedly showed customers a pop-up that invited them to make additional deposits.

The KSA emphasized that it takes these signals very seriously and that the ability to self-exclude from online gambling is a hallmark of the regulated Dutch market. Because of that, the KSA will continue to monitor developments at Lucky 7 Casino.

The Dutch regulator warned that the operator risks enforcement action in case of repeated failures.

KSA Cracks Down on Newspaper Promotions of Illegal Gambling

Speaking of the KSA, the regulator recently investigated newspapers and online magazines promoting illegal gaming services. To that end, it probed not only direct links to illegal websites but also other promotional features, including recommendations, logos of providers, and imagery of Dutch banks.

As a result of its investigation, the Kansspelautoriteit contacted 42 editors, emphasizing how “reprehensible” the promotion of casinos without Cruks (the Netherlands’ self-exclusion scheme) was. The editors were therefore asked to immediately remove any links and advertisements promoting illegal gambling services.

All violators were then sent letters containing more information on how to prevent such issues in the future.