The highest administrative court in the Netherlands, the Raad van State, has definitively upheld a fine of €12.64 million imposed on operator N1 for operating without a license through the brand Bob Casino. This ruling confirms that the Dutch regulator only needs to establish the availability of the operator's website without a local license to Dutch players, even if the operator does not actively promote its services in the local market.
According to the KSA (Dutch Gambling Authority), the Bob Casino brand was accessible to Dutch players via local IP addresses, featured a pre-filled country flag and code 31, accepted payments in euros, and collaborated with the local bank ABN AMRO. In December 2022, KSA imposed a record fine of €12.64 million on N1, which was the highest penalty for operators at that time.
KSA estimated that N1's revenue from Dutch players on Bob Casino amounted to €126.4 million. The base rate of 4% was increased to the legal maximum of 10% due to aggravating circumstances, including the deduction of fees from inactive players' accounts, acceptance of anonymous payments, unreasonable withdrawal conditions, and repeated violations following a previous KSA fine. The court also clarified that the 10% cap is calculated based on the operator's global net revenue, not just the Dutch revenue.