Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) online gambling licence (Koa licence): what it covers and what it means for players

For players in Great BritainA KSA licence does not allow an operator to offer gambling to people in Great Britain. Under the Gambling Act 2005 (s.33, read with s.36(3) and (3A) as amended by the Gambling (Licensing and Advertising) Act 2014), providing remote gambling facilities used in Great Britain without a Gambling Commission operating licence is an offence, and s.330 makes advertising unlicensed gambling an offence. A Koa licence authorises online gambling for players in the Netherlands under Dutch law. How to check a site.

Licence types

Online games of chance licence under Article 31a of the Betting and Gaming Act (Wet op de kansspelen), known as the Koa licence, covering: casino games against the house, casino games between players (e.g. poker), sports betting, and betting on horse and harness racing
Operating licences and type approvals for gaming machines (arcade presence licences are issued by municipalities)
Multi-year lottery licences (more than 6 months, up to 5 years) and one-off lottery licences for causes of general interest
Monopoly licences (e.g. for the state lottery operator)

What players get

Cruks, the national self-exclusion register: a player registered in Cruks cannot gamble with any legal Dutch online operator, arcade or casino; registration is for at least 6 months, and relatives or others can ask the KSA to register a player as a last resort (Art. 33h Betting and Gaming Act)
Licensees must check every player against Cruks before play and refuse under-18s and Cruks-registered players
Since October 2024 online operators must carry out an affordability check before a player can make net deposits above EUR 300 (players aged 18-24) or EUR 700 (25 and over) per month
Player balances must be kept separate from the operator's other assets or insured, with secure payments and payout of balances (Art. 31l)
Operators' systems and procedures must be tested by an accredited body designated by the minister (Art. 31h)
Advertising and bonuses may not target vulnerable groups including minors; online operators, casinos and arcades also may not target young adults; strict limits on using role models (athletes, influencers) and a ban on untargeted online advertising
Staff training on recognising problem gambling is mandatory for licensees offering high-risk games
The KSA does not mediate individual disputes; it takes reports for its supervision and points players to the operator, legal advice services and the fraud helpdesk

How to check a licence

Search the KSA's Kansspelwijzer register (https://kansspelautoriteit.nl/kansspelwijzer, English entry point https://kansspelautoriteit.nl/register-licensees) by company name, website, app or licence number. The KSA says a site not in the register does not hold a Dutch licence.

Recent changes

2024-10: Affordability checks became mandatory above monthly net deposits of EUR 300 (18-24) or EUR 700 (25+).
2025-01-01: Dutch gambling tax rose from 30.5% to 34.2%, and to 37.8% in 2026; a June 2026 Finance Ministry/KSA monitor found the expected extra revenue was not achieved.
2026-01: KSA reorganised, creating a dedicated player-protection department; its 2026 supervision agenda prioritises illegal gambling, minors and young adults, duty of care, advertising and anti-money-laundering.
2026-02-16: The KSA chair noted that the new coalition agreement proposes a full ban on online gambling advertising and a study into limiting the number of online licences (proposals, not law).
2026-02-24: KSA clarified the role-model ban, telling licensees to end collaborations with influencers and streamers.
2026-03-10: KSA imposed its largest fine yet on an illegal (unlicensed) operator, about EUR 24.8 million, and said the legal 10%-of-turnover cap held it below what it would otherwise have imposed.
2026-03-18: KSA published a new guideline on the ban on untargeted advertising.
2026-07-02: KSA updated its good/bad practice guidance on affordability checks, stating savings may not count and assessments must rest on structural income.
2026-09-17: First renewal licences granted: the original 2021 online licences expire at the end of September 2026; renewals run October 2026 to September 2031, and past violations were assessed for the first time.

Context

KSA's spring 2026 monitoring report estimates about 91% of Dutch gamblers play only with licensed operators, but channelisation measured by money is about 53%.

Online gross gaming revenue was about EUR 602 million in the second half of 2025, roughly 18% lower than in 2024; the KSA's 2025 annual report attributes the 2025 contraction (18.5%) to its October 2024 measures and the January 2025 tax rise.

KSA reported 10 improvement meetings, 3 warnings and 1 binding instruction after sample checks of affordability tests at 20 licensees (July 2026).

The KSA chair wrote in February 2026 that more than 60,000 Dutch-targeted gambling adverts appear monthly on Facebook and Instagram, fewer than 2,000 of them from licensed operators.

Not yet verified

Exact entry-into-force date of the Koa Act (1 April 2021, with the market opening 1 October 2021, is commonly cited); KSA confirms only that the first online licences were granted in 2021 and expired end of September 2026
Whether a dispute committee / ADR scheme is mandatory for Koa licensees (not confirmed in the sources read)
Whether a KSA seal or logo must be displayed on licensed sites
Start date of the untargeted-advertising ban and role-model ban (commonly cited as July 2023) was not confirmed from a primary page

We could not confirm these from a primary source, so we have not stated them as fact.