Dutch regulators headlined its ‘Supervision Agenda 2025’ with stricter scrutiny on duty-of-care interactions by operators with young customers.

Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), the gambling authority of the Netherlands, stated that it was concerned by the exposure of under-24s to online gambling and it will pay extra attention to “how young adults are enticed by gambling providers to gamble”.

Speaking on the latest episode of iGaming Daily, Ted Menmuir, SBC’s Content Director, said: “The restrictions come with the KSA demanding that the licence and duties that customers must have one-to-one customer care checks with trained staff provided by operators and all interactions that must be recorded and kept on file with the KSA.”

In July of last year, Michel Groothuizen succeeded René Jansen as chairman of the KSA and Ted added that the increased scrutiny on customer care and the market conduct of operators appears to be a strong focus for the Dutch regulator’s new leader.

“He emphasises a lot that trust has to be regained by the licensees of the co-market and he prioritises problem gambling interventions as the primary indicators of how well the market is progressing and its duties towards the consumer,” he explained.

Also on the horizon for Dutch operators is the potential for a double tax increase in 2025 and 2026, which could set the country’s tax rate from 34-to-38%. Despite pleas from the industry to reverse this decision, the Conservative Coalition maintains that it will not review its budget which is inclusive of the hikes.

In 2025, fears over tax rises have been witnessed across Europe as a raft of new governments will announce their budget proposals, as ‘tax anxieties’ will be on the agenda for industry leaders. 

Bulgaria’s gambling regime overhaul

Elsewhere in the episode, Viktor Kayed, Senior Journalist for SBC News, recapped an in-depth interview he conducted with Rumen Spetsov, Director General of Bulgaria’s National Revenue Office. 

In 2024, the country overhauled its Gambling Act which included stricter controls on gambling advertising, restricting marketing to billboards and prohibiting it on TV radio, print and online platforms. 

Given the changes only came into effect in May, Viktor explained that it is too early for industry stakeholders, such as Spetsov, to evaluate the effectiveness of the overhaul. However, he noted that the impact of the changes is being evaluated closely and adjustments could be made if needed. 

Reflecting on the current situation in Bulgaria, Viktor explained that it is a market that is keen to learn from other more mature European markets.

“It’s really adaptive,” he said. “It follows the rules from other western markets. When big companies come here they come with all these practices, safer gambling rules and the right tools to have fair and transparent business models.

“[In Bulgaria] the policymakers listen to them and take the best practices and implement them into the regulations. So there is a constant back and forth between operators and regulators that I think is leading to a good, competitive market.”