Online casino platform Mr Green has been fined almost £300,000 by the Netherlands’ gambling authority; the Kansspelautoriteit (KSA).
The MRG subsidiary was fined a whopping €312,000 (£279,600/$362,000) this week for failing to use IP blocking technology to prevent Dutch players from gambling on its website.
According to the KSA’s announcement yesterday (September 12), Mr Green was also offering the games of chance to Dutch players without a local license.
The fine was originally imposed back in July, but MRG challenged the firm to prevent them from publishing news of the fine. However, a local judge dismissed the operator’s efforts on Tuesday (September 11), prompting websites to publish news of the fine online.
The KSA says an investigation of Mr Green’s activities discovered that the online casino was failing to support Dutch customers. They also found that the website offered a Dutch-language option, Dutch-speaking customer service and popular Dutch payment systems, all without a legal license.
Mr Green, which is regulated by the Malta Gaming Authority, claimed that the fine would impair their chances of acquiring a Dutch online gambling license, but the KSA argued that they’d still be able to acquire a license.
In a statement announcing the news, MRG said that, in their opinion, they’ve followed all the guidelines in the Netherlands except the rules for IP blocking.
They said: “Mr Green has in its opinion complied with the Dutch guidelines for online gaming except for the use of IP blocking.
“The Dutch gaming authority has previously issued guidelines for online gaming in the Netherlands. Mr Green Ltd is of the opinion that it has complied with these guidelines except for IP blocking, for which the company has been fined. Most gaming operators practice IP blocking in the Netherlands and the company will therefore appeal the decision.”
They added: “The Dutch market represents about six per cent of the MRG Group’s total revenue and its impact on profitability is insignificant. Revenue from the Netherlands amounted to approximately SEK26m in the second quarter.”
The news comes one week after UK national lottery provider Camelot was fined £1.15 million for a number of failings, including a mobile app glitch and the release of an incomplete list of raffle winners.
