Romania Takes Strong Action Against Illegal Gambling, Enforcing More Site Bans and Receiving Surge in Complaints
Romania National Office for Gambling (ONJN) has significantly ramped up its efforts against unlicensed gambling activities during the period from April 2025 to April 2026. Leveraging expanded legal authority, the regulator issued over 60 removal orders, blacklisted more than 300 websites, and filed 70 criminal complaints, marking a notable increase in enforcement actions. Romania Illegal Gambling
The heightened activity follows the enactment of Law no. 141/2025, which broadened ONJN’s scope of authority. These legislative changes empowered the regulator to order the removal of illegal gambling content more effectively and mandated that class II operators submit monthly reports detailing attempts by players to access unlicensed platforms.
Throughout the year, ONJN’s enforcement machinery conducted approximately 11,000 checks, leading to the blocking or confiscation of 260 devices. Investigations into alleged manipulation of gross gaming revenue and unpaid taxes resulted in 70 criminal complaints and the revocation of 60 licenses.
The regulator’s oversight extended to land-based venues, with roughly 7,000 inspections carried out. These efforts resulted in fines totaling 8.1 million lei (approximately €1.5 million). Meanwhile, online gambling operators faced around 3,500 inspections, with additional fines amounting to 1.2 million lei.
ONJN reported that, at the start of its mandate, over 30,000 unresolved self-exclusion requests were pending. Currently, the self-exclusion system encompasses about 54,000 individuals. A draft Emergency Ordinance is also proposing a unified self-exclusion framework for both land-based and online operators, including mandatory ID verification, cooling-off periods, and penalties for breaches.
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In another initiative, the regulator unveiled a public digital registry of gaming machines hosted on the Government Private Cloud. Each machine is now required to feature a QR code linked to its registry entry and geolocation data, which ONJN described as a “unique European mechanism.”
Vlad-Cristian Soare, President of ONJN, stated: “This year has shown change is possible despite resistance and roadblocks. The direction has been maintained and the projects, investigations and initiatives must be followed through.”
At the municipal level, some local authorities have taken steps to limit gambling proliferation. For example, Iasi city councilors supported a proposal to ban slot machines and restrict gambling advertising, while Sibiu has moved to close existing gaming halls as their permits expire, reflecting regional efforts to curb illegal activity. Romania Illegal Gambling
