Mansion’s Onisac hit with €450,000 Dutch regulatory fine

The Dutch Gambling Authority (KSA) has levied a financial penalty of €450,000 on Gibraltar-based operator Onisac Limited for several violations of existing Dutch gambling legislation.

The company, which operates the casino.com website under Mansion’s Gibraltar licence, was first fined €200,000 for offering online gambling to Dutch citizens without a licence.

A second €200,000 charge was incurred by the company due to the fact the Onisac had already received a financial penalty from the KSA in 2013.

René Jansen, chairman of the KSA, said the decision to double the current fine was justified because the operator was a “repeat offender”, and as a result the violation of the Dutch Betting and Gaming Act was “extra harmful”.

In addition to these penalties, a further fine of €50,000 was imposed because the KSA found the company charged “unreasonable administration costs” on existing players. Onisac was found to be charging players a 5% per month administration fee if player accounts were inactive for 180 days, with fees ranging between €15 and €500.

All players were given a one-time warning 30 days in advance of these charges being taken, with charges being take as long as there was money in the players account. The KSA has criticised these practices, adding that they create an “unreasonable disadvantage” for consumers.

As a result of these actions, the casino.com site has been made inaccessible to Dutch players.

Onisac Limited, together with Mansion Online, offered gambling games online without a licence in the Dutch market for almost a year between June 2012 and August 2013.

In 2013, The KSA levied a fine of €150,000 for breaking Dutch gambling laws after it was discovered that online gambling was being offered in the Dutch language, contravening the prioritisation criteria.

Both operators appealed the decision, but these appeals were dismissed in appeal hearings at the Dutch Council of State in September 2018.