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The Kansspelautoriteit has provided a further update regarding the pending legalisation of online gambling, after revealing that 79 parties have submitted an interest in obtaining a relevant licence.

The Dutch gaming authority started taking registrations from interested parties earlier this month, with organisations having until Friday 21 June to indicate that they are potentially interested in securing a permit through the Ksa website.

Currently setting up the licensing process in the context of the remote gambling act, the moves being undertaken by the regulator follows the Netherlands Senate passing the law in february of this year.

Set to make online gambling legal under a number of strict conditions, the Ministry of Justice and Security is currently elaborating the law, which when complete will allow the Ksa to draw up definitive permit conditions.

If the law formally enters into force the Ksa can process license applications, with an expectation set for it to come into force on July 1, 2020 and the market for online gambling to open on January 1, 2021.

In order to ensure that the licensing process runs smoothly, the Ksa stresses that it is important to know how many license applications it can expect in the future.

René Jansen, chairman of the board of directors of the Ksa, called on June 5 market parties to fill in the form on its website: “Everyone will soon benefit from a smooth process. If we know how many applications we can expect, we can organise the organisation accordingly. That is in our interest, but also in that of the applicants.”

Last month the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets published details of an ongoing scam within the nation, which seeks to reclaim non-existent gambling debts from consumers.

Lootsma and Partners, Bailiff Smits and Co and Inter Payment Service were all named as the collection agencies that form part of the scam by the ACM, with the country’s gaming regulator backing the warning and subsequent advice issued.