Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), the Dutch gambling authority, has regarded the current risk analysis system in the regulations as “not functioning optimally”, and incurs significant costs but brings little additional protection for players.
The statement follows a report published by the KSA – Study report on risk analyses of games offered by licensed online gambling operators – which examined the risk analysis of game offerings operators conduct to determine the level of risk and to meet duty of care standards to prevent gambling addiction.
Operators must then take certain preventative and protective measures to protect players depending on this risk outcome.
The authority’s research examined the methods, external organisations used and departments or officials involved in the process by operators in their risk analysis, revealing that five different research methods were used – ASTERIG, Gamgard, Neccton, Gaming Associates and an operator’s own.
Nearly all operators also conducted their risk analysis by game category, rather than by individual game, which the KSA believes is due to the analysis being time-consuming and costly.
However, the Dutch gambling authority said that this type of analysis can “result in certain games being classified too low within a category”.
When it came to conducting the risk analysis, the KSA noted that in total, 21 licencees used an external analyst, while seven used an internal analyst.
It was stated that independent and expert conduct of analyses is “not always adequately guaranteed”, but that is inferred from job titles and is “not a definitive finding”. As for external analysts, the KSA noted that the expertise and knowledge of analysts is “insufficiently clear”.
The authority stated that its study showed that consistent results aren’t produced by risk analyses, even if they are examining the same title by different operators or performed by the same party, which the KSA says “makes it difficult to compare”.Some operators take mitigating measures into account when conducting their risk analysis, while others do not.
As a result, the KSA has determined that the current system “is not functioning optimally” and that discussions are being held with the Ministry of Justice and Security about what improvements can be made for the establishment of a more uniform system.
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