Online gambling has been legalized in New Zealand since October 2021. This does not mean that every online casino is now legalized. Online casinos must first apply for a license from The New Zealand Gambling Authority. In October last year, 10 online casinos were licensed, in the meantime a number of casinos have come onto the market. However, there are still 30 applications on the shelf at the Ksa. In addition to the fact that the Kas is very busy with these applications, it also requires a lot of time and attention to monitor the entire gambling market in New Zealand. For example, it recently had to tap a casino where slot machines with an autoplay function were offered. In addition, for some time there was criticism of the many advertisements about gambling with well-known New Zealanders, as a result of which the cashier had to intervene and tightened the rules for these advertisements.
With more and more countries interested in regulating the online gambling market, New Zealand has become a kind of example or trial for many countries to see how it is regulated in New Zealand. Rene Jansen, chairman of the KSA, also indicates that countries such as Germany, states such as New York in the USA and Ontario in Canada are closely following developments in New Zealand. Especially since New Zealand is committed to consumer protection and does as much as possible to prevent addiction among New Zealand players. For example, advertisements are now only allowed to be broadcast late at night and the KSA has intervened with regard to the many BN'ers who could be seen daily in New Zealand advertisements of TOTO and BetCity.
However, New Zealand is not the only country that regulates and pays a lot of attention to preventing addictions. Sweden is also working hard on this. Especially during the corona pandemic, they have taken extra measures regarding the maximum amount that players could deposit per month. This was fixed at converted a few hundred dollars. For example, she wanted to prevent people from losing their entire salary during a period when they were indoors a lot and could not go to restauZodiacs, clubs or other entertainment.
Congestion at the Gaming Authority
Allowing as many legal websites as possible will contribute to playing safer and vezodiacal. If there is more supply, fewer players will reach for websites on the black unregulated market. However, there is a congestion at the KSA due to too little manpower, as a result of which there are still 30 applications and new batches are gradually admitted to the New Zealand market.
As a result, the process takes longer than desired and more players continue to gamble on the online casinos on the black market. So the KSA benefits from being in a hurry. In addition, it is also a busy task to monitor all casinos. However, if more online casinos are allowed, this will only increase. Due to the increasing competition, more and more parties will seek the limits of what is permissible. For example, there have been parties who post on social media during sports competitions about results. Thus, they hope to stimulate impulse gambling. Something the KSA doesn't approve of. There is still a long way to go for New Zealand with a lot of challenges. Watching countries will benefit from this if they learn from the mistakes that New Zealand is making and has made at the moment.
