KSA Updates Municipal Slot Machine Guide, Clarifies Enforcement Responsibilities

Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) confirmed on April 22, 2026, that it has updated its “Wegwijzer Speelautomaten voor Gemeenten” to support local authorities in supervising slot machine gambling. The update, developed with the Vereniging van Nederlandse Gemeenten (VNG), responds to requests from municipalities for clearer guidance on illegal gambling and the division of enforcement responsibilities.

The updated guide reflects recent changes in Dutch gambling law and enforcement practice. It is designed to help municipalities apply rules more consistently when issuing presence licences, supervising locations, and enforcing duty-of-care obligations for slot machine operators.

A key part of the update is making it clearer who does what. Municipalities decide where machines can go and handle local checks, while the Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) deals with operator licences, technical rules, and national enforcement. It also adds more detail on illegal gambling, showing how to spot unlicensed machines and when cases should be passed to the KSA or the police.

“Not always clear how far responsibilities extend,” said Ella Seijsener, Director of Licensing and Supervision at the KSA. She added that municipalities play a direct role in granting presence licences and can act against illegal gambling under local rules, but require clearer boundaries to do so effectively.

The document also confirms that enforcement depends on cooperation. Both municipalities and the KSA share responsibility for monitoring duty-of-care obligations and addressing illegal gambling cases. Data sharing between the two is mandatory in certain investigations, particularly where integrity checks under Bibob rules are involved.

For operators, this means more checks at the local level. Presence licences, location rules, and compliance will be handled more consistently across municipalities, leaving less room for differing interpretations. Smaller land-based operators may feel more pressure as local authorities adopt stricter approaches. For municipalities, the guide is more practical. It gives support for risk checks, licensing decisions, and enforcement, with extra materials available from the KSA.

💡 TGJ Take

This is about making enforcement more consistent at the local level. The KSA is closing gaps that allowed different interpretations between municipalities, especially on presence licences and illegal machines. Once the same rules are applied everywhere, there is less flexibility. Smaller land-based operators will feel this first, as they depend more on local differences and mixed-use setups. With clearer rules on illegal gambling and required data sharing, cases will move faster, and there will be less tolerance for grey areas.