Gammix ltd casino

Gammix Limited, a Malta-based online casino firm, has been fined 19.7 million euros by the Dutch Gaming Authority (KSA) for offering unlicensed gambling to players in the Netherlands. This is the highest fine ever imposed by the KSA, and it was levied against a company which was previously fined four million euros for similar violations. The previous record was 12 million euros charged to N1 Interactive Limited and a fine of 10 million euros against Videoslots Unlimited

The company runs 21 different online casinos, according to their Malta Gaming Authority license. Dutch law requires companies that offer online gambling to carry a license to operate in the Netherlands when providing services to users in that country. The amount of the fine is equivalent to 6.5 percent of the estimated gross revenue generated from users in the Netherlands, after also factoring in unfair business practices.

Despite repeated warnings and orders, the company has not taken appropriate action to block players in the Netherlands from participating, the KSA alleged. Additionally, the company's websites do not take appropriate measures to prevent underage people from placing wagers. The KSA wrote their decision in December and published it on Thursday. Gammix Limited filed an objection in the case.

"Dutch players must be protected, therefore we are taking a strong stance against illegal gambling offerings," said René Jansen, the KSA chair. "We often see that illegal operators pay little attention to player well-being and do not adhere to responsible gambling practices. This case exemplifies this, with the absence of clear age controls, which can be highly detrimental."

The KSA said that an inspection showed that the company's websites could be reached from a Dutch IP address, it was possible to create an account using a Dutch postal address and phone number, and the Dutch ban was not specifically stated in the company's terms and conditions. To prove this, the KSA created accounts with multiple Gammix websites using registration information from the Netherlands, and depositing 20 euros in each from Dutch bank accounts.

Using audience data from SimilarWeb, the KSA estimated that a dozen Gammix websites drew roughly 2.6 million users from the Netherlands. The authority only looked at those 12 sites which brought in a minimum of 5,000 users based in the country. The regulator estimated per user revenue of 115.12 euros, for gross turnover of nearly 303 million euros.

It calculated its fine of 4 percent on that total, then added a half percentage point each for lack of age verification, unreasonable terms related to withdrawals, unfair inactivity fees, allowing users to make anonymous account deposits, and features like autoplay and turboplay which encourage "excessive gaming." That brought the total fine up to 19,679,000 euros.

The current sanction from the KSA names several Gammix websites which offer services to players in the Netherlands, including rantcasino.com, betoriginal.com, bluvegas.com, cashimashi.com, goslot.com, nordslot.com, vegadream.com and scatters.com. The KSA previously named rantcasino.com and nordslot.com in allegations from 2022 based on inspections of those sites.

"Subsequently, the illegal activities were not stopped, after which this penalty of four million euros was demanded at the beginning of 2023. Gammix has objected to this demand," the KSA noted on Thursday.