The Dutch industry's trade association, the VAN, met at Schiphol on October 6 for a general meeting of members and a small presentation of new products.
The market has been severely hit by the Dutch Government’s decision to impose a 29 per cent tax on cashbox returns, but the industry has been promised some relief in the form of legislation which will enable operators to better afford the tax.
Some adjustments to stakes, prizes and loss per hour are promised, along with the right to use bill validators, ticket-in and ticket-out (TITO) or smartcards to validate games.
After initial indications that the new regulations would be introduced in January 2010, later adjusted to March, the latest news, VAN members were told, is that the fresh legislation would come into effect on June 1, 2010.
Most of the leading Dutch suppliers were on hand to show their newest equipment to a market which, admittedly, isn’t moving at the moment. Among the busiest stands was that of Reac, the company which promises the most cost-effective solution for the new money-handling proposals.
