The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) recently initiated the licensing process following the implementation of the new national Remote Gambling Act on 1 April. The market is set to launch on 1 October.
All 28 applicants have paid the required €48,000 (£41,578/$57,787) fee as part of their submission, as stated by the KSA.
If these operators are successful with their applications, they will be allowed to offer online games of chance through approved websites when the market opens in October.
“The intention of the law is to redirect players from illegal providers to legally trustworthy ones,” mentioned KSA chairman René Jansen.
René Jansen also expressed confidence in achieving this objective, with the significant number of applications received.
Last month, the KSA anticipated receiving around 40 applications for igaming licenses. It expects to award roughly 35 permits.
The Remote Gambling Act was initially scheduled to take effect on 1 July 2020 but experienced three delays before being implemented this month.
Dutch license applicants must have an effective responsible gambling strategy and agree to connect with the country’s Central Register of Exclusion of Gambling (Cruks).
Furthermore, operators are required to provide the Control Database (CDB) with their own captured game data, enabling the KSA to remotely monitor game systems.