Dutch gambling regulator Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) has handed down another fine on Optdeck Service, operator of the Unibet brand in the Netherlands, for breaching its duty of care to players.
After being issued with a €450,000 fine in September for offering unauthorised football bets, Optdeck has now been fined €4 million for failing to protect players against excessive participation and gambling addiction between July 2022 and July 2024.
The KSA requested files from Optdeck on 10 players who suffered the greatest losses during the two-year timeframe and found that all files showed breaches of duty of care. These included failing to adequately analyse gaming behaviour and failing to implement appropriate intervention measures to prevent excessive participation and gambling addiction as far as possible.
The regulator gave an example of a player who deposited thousands of euros per day, but Unibet failed to intervene promptly when it detected signs of excessive gambling behaviour. Unibet only requested information on the player’s income several weeks later, after the player had already suffered substantial losses.
In addition, KSA said that the operator’s interventions were far too light and included an easily dismissible pop-up window. Checks of financial data also included income that the KSA does not allow, such as a company account.
“When there are signs of excessive gambling behaviour and someone wagers a large amount of money in a short period of time, a provider must promptly investigate the source of the money,” said KSA chairman Michel Groothuizen. “This can be done by requesting income information. It is essential that providers conduct this analysis properly, because not all financial resources can simply be included. The KSA takes violations of its duty of care very seriously and will continue to take strong action against them.”
Shares in Unibet parent company FDJ United (EPA:FDJU) were trading 4.09 per cent lower at €23.44 per share in Paris Tuesday morning.