Dutch Regulator Tells Operators to Stop Obstructing Players Who Want to Close Their Accounts

The Kansspelautoriteit has issued guidance after finding that not all licensed operators let players close an account as easily as the rules require. Forced calls to customer service, fresh ID checks, cooling-off periods and win-back bonuses are all named as practices that do not comply.

• The Kansspelautoriteit (Ksa) said on 23 September that not all licensed gambling operators follow the rules on ending a player's registration correctly, and called the practice "kwalijk" (objectionable)
• Its guidance says a player must be able to close an account directly from within it, and that operators may not require a call to customer service, a new identity check, answers about the reason, a cooling-off period or a win-back bonus
• When a player contacts customer service to close an account, the operator may not use the conversation to persuade them to stay, and may not offer self-exclusion or Cruks registration as an alternative
• Any remaining balance must be paid out to the player's registered account without unnecessary delay, with no minimum amounts or conditions, and closing an account may not carry a fee
• The guidance adds no new rules, the Ksa says, but explains how it reads the existing ones as the Dutch market enters its first licence renewals

"Players Must Always Be Able to Close Their Account"

The Ksa said it had found that not all licensed operators apply the rules on ending a registration, commonly called closing an account, in the right way, based on questions from licensees, reports from players and its own supervision. Some operators put up barriers, for example by requiring people to contact customer service first. "The Ksa stresses that this is not allowed," it said, adding that it regards the practices it has seen as "absolutely undesirable" and that the guidance should leave "no ambiguity" about how the process must work.

The legal basis is article 4.17 of the Decree on remote games of chance (Bkoa), under which an operator ends a player's registration when the player asks. From that, the guidance says, a player must be able to end their registration at any time and cannot be kept registered against their will, even if they consented earlier. Closure is final, not a temporary deactivation, and the player loses access to the account.

What Operators May and May Not Do

The guidance lists practices that do not fit a simple closure: requiring an identity document to be uploaded, re-verifying the player's bank account, making the player answer questions about why they are leaving, requiring a conversation with customer service, offering a cooling-off period, and offering bonuses or other benefits to change the player's mind. Identity was checked at registration and is checked at every login, the Ksa notes, so a closure request is no reason to check it again. Doubts about identity must be dealt with earlier.

Self-exclusion, play breaks and registration in Cruks, the national exclusion register, are intervention measures with a different purpose, and operators may not offer them as an alternative to closure or require a player to use them first. Operators may give neutral information, such as how a remaining balance will be paid, how personal data is handled and how to opt out of marketing, provided it does not delay or discourage the request. A confirmation email may concern only the closure, with no win-back bonus, cooling-off offer or option to cancel. Balances must be paid out without unnecessary delay under article 4.29 of the Bkoa, with no minimum amount, and charging for closure is not allowed. Player data is kept for three years after closure for supervision, but the Ksa says that retention is not a service for reopening accounts.

The Guidance Targets the Last Point of Friction Retention Teams Control

Most of the practices the Ksa names are standard retention tools elsewhere in consumer subscriptions: an exit survey, a call with an agent, a cooling-off period, a counter-offer. In gambling, the Ksa's point is that the moment a customer asks to leave may coincide with the moment they are trying to stop, and every step between request and closure is a chance to gamble again. By treating those steps as non-compliant rather than merely undesirable, and by explicitly ruling out self-exclusion as a substitute, the regulator closes the gap between a player's decision and its effect.

Expect the Ksa to Check, Not Just Advise

The guidance says it creates no new rules, which is also what makes it enforceable: it is the regulator's reading of obligations operators already have. Coming weeks after the Ksa weighed five years of breaches in renewing licences, it gives licensees little room to argue they misunderstood the requirement. Operators with retention flows built around a mandatory chat or a last-minute bonus will need to change them.

The rule itself is simple, and the Ksa has now written down exactly what it does not allow. What remains is whether operators change their flows before the regulator comes to check.