Netherlands gambling licence check: how to use the KSA register

Use the Kansspelautoriteit's Kansspelwijzer, now served through OpenOverGokken.nl, an initiative of the KSA. The directory lets consumers inspect legal entities and their permitted gambling offer before registering with an operator.

The KSA's online-gambling licence Q&A describes the Kansspelwijzer as the only correct overview of granted remote-gambling licences. The online-gambling category contained 31 records when Atlas successfully queried it on 3 August 2026. A new request on 9 September still returned an upstream error, so Atlas retained the dated 31-record snapshot instead of presenting it as a complete current count.

A remote-gambling permission is a Koa licence granted under article 31a of the Dutch Gambling Act. The KSA lists four broad remote activities: casino games played against the licence holder, casino games played against other players, sports betting and betting on horse racing or harness racing.

The conclusion must therefore remain tied to the activity and service shown by the current record. A licence holder should not automatically be described as authorised for every online product.

Begin with the hostname visible in the browser, without assuming that an international or translated version of a brand is the Dutch service. Search that website in the Kansspelwijzer, then repeat the search using the consumer brand and known legal entity.

A positive company-name result is not enough when the question concerns another domain or app. Preserve the fields that connect the consumer service to the licence record.

Dutch consumers often know the brand while the KSA record and enforcement notices identify the licensed company. A careful check records both names and explains the relationship rather than silently substituting one for the other.

Corporate ownership can provide useful context, but it does not replace the company, website, app or licence-number match provided by the official register.

The KSA states that a model approval, slot-machine operating permit, lottery permission or exemption does not create a remote-gambling Koa licence. Supplier certification also does not mean the supplier itself holds permission to offer gambling to Dutch consumers.

For an online-operator claim, evidence must point to a Koa licence in a successful Kansspelwijzer result or a direct KSA licence decision. If the consumer brand or domain differs from the licence holder, add current primary evidence that makes that connection. Other approvals should be labelled by their actual purpose.

The KSA says remote-gambling licences have a five-year term and that the first licences granted for the 2021 market opening begin expiring on 1 October 2026. Existing licence holders must submit a new application because an expiring permission cannot be extended.

The KSA opened its portal to existing holders on 1 December 2025 so they could prepare applications. BRVKOA 2026 applies from 1 January 2026. An operator list created before this cycle can therefore become inaccurate even when the consumer brand has not changed.

Applications submitted from 1 January 2026 must include an exit plan. The document must explain how the operator would end its gambling offer and handle legal, financial, tax, organisational, technical and communications obligations, including prompt payment of player balances and continued access to required control-database records.

The KSA requires notice of an impending exit at least 72 hours before the plan takes effect. The plan does not activate when a new licence application is pending and the holder can reasonably expect approval, but that exception is not a substitute for checking the current licence record and expiry date.

Use the same sequence for positive and negative results so another researcher can reproduce the conclusion.

After a successful directory retrieval, if the company, website, app and licence number cannot be matched, do not describe the service as holding a Dutch remote-gambling licence. Record each search term and the date so the negative finding can be repeated.

Check alternative legal and trading names before closing the research. A foreign gambling licence, group-company permission or KSA logo displayed by the site does not replace a current Kansspelwijzer match.

An access failure is not a licensing result. If the Kansspelwijzer does not load, preserve the last reproducible snapshot as historical evidence and mark the current full-directory check as unavailable. Do not convert a timeout, gateway error or blocked request into a claim that an operator has disappeared from the register.

For a named operator, use the KSA licence decision to establish the holder, licence reference, authorised categories and term. Use a KSA supervision record or first-party legal page to connect a different brand or domain. This source stack can update only the named relationship; it does not refresh the complete directory.

The main errors come from treating the brand, company, domain, app and licence as interchangeable.

Atlas schedules this guide for review every 30 days during the 2026 renewal period and earlier after a KSA licensing decision, expiry, enforcement notice, website change or corporate transfer. The next complete count requires a successful Kansspelwijzer retrieval; individual decisions are tracked separately in the meantime.

This guide explains how to verify the official record. It is not legal advice, does not guarantee player outcomes and cannot replace the current Kansspelwijzer entry.