Dutch Court Mandates Unibet to Reimburse Players
A Dutch judge has ordered two unnamed gaming companies, including one owned by Kindred, to reimburse their punters for operating illegally in the Netherlands. This recent crackdown is part of a wider effort to curb unlicensed online gaming operators.
Lawyers representing the gamblers claim that if a company operates against the law, they have no right to the money made. The judge concurred and ordered the two gaming operators to return €93,000 and €124,000 (US$99,863 and $133,151) respectively.
The judgments were made without any response from the companies.
Since these are in absentia rulings, they do not set legal precedent for future cases with a defense presented. Hence, other people who lost money gambling online before October 2021 cannot use these rulings to support their own lawsuits.
Unibet has stated their opposition to the ruling and will contest it until then. Regardless, the verdict stands and they are responsible for carrying out the court order.
Unibet's Prior Troubles
This isn't the first time Unibet has encountered issues for providing online gaming services in the Netherlands. In 2019, Kansspelautoriteit, the Dutch gaming regulator, fined its parent company, Kindred subsidiary Trannel International Limited, €470,000 (US$504,686).
The regulator stated that Unibet's online gambling services were aimed at Dutch customers, as evidenced by the availability of iDEAL eCommerce payment system and a Dutch language customer service.
The terms and conditions of the company were also part of the evidence, including a list of countries whose residents were banned from participation. Interestingly, the Netherlands was not on this list.
Netherlands' Gaming Law
Prior to October 2021, online gambling was against the law in the Netherlands. However, some online gaming companies without a license were active in the country.
In Germany and Austria, similar cases have led to several lawsuits against these companies, with gamblers recovering millions. Over the past few years, there have been almost 7,000 such cases, with courts mostly ruling in favor of the gamblers. To date, gaming operators have reimbursed tens of millions of dollars due to these rulings.
A recent study estimated that Dutch players may have spent up to €500 million (US$536.9 million) on unlicensed platforms. If these players present their claims, some gaming operators could risk going out of business.
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Source: www.casino.org
