Steve Hoare

Optdeck Service Ltd, operator of Unibet in the Netherlands, has been fined €4m over duty of care failures.

The Dutch gambling commission, Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), confirmed that the failures occurred between 14 July 2022 and 1 July 2024, and that they were related to insufficient player protection measures.

“Gambling companies must protect players as much as possible from excessive participation and gambling addiction,” the regulator said.

Within the files requested and examined by the KSA, it was revealed that Optdeck continuously failed to intervene in cases where problem gambling indicators were present.

Several incidents involved gamblers spending “thousands of Euros” per day but information about their income was requested only weeks after. Also present in the documents reviewed by the KSA was an instance where money from a business account was used to gamble – a prohibited practice under Dutch law.

Michel Groothuizen, KSA Chairman, commented: “When there are signs of immoderate gambling behavior and someone bets a huge amount of money in a short time, a provider must investigate the origin of the money.

“It is essential that providers carry out this analysis adequately, because not all financial resources may simply be included. The KSA takes violations of the duty of care very seriously and will continue to act hard against them.”

Unibet, is everything alright?
This is not the first time Optdeck has landed in trouble with the Dutch regulator. Earlier in September, the operator was charged an additional €450,000 for offering Unibet customers bets on prohibited markets – corner kicks, yellow cards, and under-21 games.

The violations went on from October 2022 to May 2025 – overlapping with the time period when the player protection failures occurred.

Similar duty of care breaches are not limited just to Optdeck, however. Earlier this year, Unibet received a penalty of AU$1m (£481,000) in Australia for failure to restrict the access of hundreds of self-excluded accounts.

Another case from just over two months ago saw Platinum Gaming, operator of Unibet in the UK, receive a whopping £10m penalty for social responsibility and AML beaches

All of these instances build up the case for a bigger question – are such significant oversights region-locked or is there something far more bigger going on centrally at Unibet and its parents Kindred Group and FDJ United that requires urgent attention?

The Government of Montenegro has rejected appeals demanding a constitutional review of articles authorised under the New Law on Games of Chance.

The challenge was filed by NVO, the national trade association for games-of-chance suppliers, and Lutrija Crne Gore (the Lottery of Montenegro), which has contested the provisions of Article 106.

The Incumbents cite that the “transitional and concession rules” set out in the legislation undermine constitutional rights of gambling licences authorised by the former laws of Montenegro.

According to the two parties, Article 106 of the New Law will breach the constitutional ban on retroactive legislation, create unequal treatment for operators with different contract expiry dates, and will further infringe on what they described as “acquired rights” linked to existing concessions.

PM Spajić says no…
A written opinion was submitted to the Vlada legislature directly by Prime Minister Milojko Spajić, who stated:

“After examining the submission, the government finds that the law does not have retroactive effect. The mandate on games of chance is an activity of public interest and holds exclusive rights for the state. Organisers therefore do not possess any rights that will be in breach of the New Law.

The government ensures a transitional period of 270 days to allow all organisers to align their business operations with the new requirements, in all fairness to all, regardless of who they might be.

Spajić continued: “The government ultimately decides that this disputed provision is not contrary to constitutional norms or international conventions, and that there is no prospect of bringing proceedings before the Constitutional Court with respect to Article 106 of the Law on Games of Chance.”

The PM’s opinion formed the legal basis upon which the cabinet rejected the petition for constitutional review. Although the constitutional challenge has been rejected, the new framework continues to attract criticism from Montenegro’s gambling licences.

Montenegrobet, the national association of licensed operators, has warned the government that it will introduce “unrealistic compliance obligations, disproportionate criminal-liability triggers, and licence-revocation grounds that could destabilise the legal market and hinder channelisation.”

The association has urged the government to reopen dialogue with gambling licences and revise several contentious provisions that will hinder market stability and suppress investment in domestic operators.

Gambling and Euro ascension
Following the decision, Montenegro’s New Law on Games of Chance passed in August 2023 – will proceed through a phased implementation in which the government will consider minimal changes.The Ministry of Finance has begun issuing secondary regulations covering licensing conditions, AML controls, supervision, and market conduct standards.

The launch of a modernised gambling framework is earmarked by the Spajić “Pro Europa” administration as a critical domestic reform supporting Montenegro’s full accession to the European Union – in which PM Spajić and the government seek to become a full member state by 2028.