Romania’s National Office for Gambling (ONJN) has released its annual activity report, detailing a massive surge in enforcement actions against unlicensed operators.
Utilizing widened powers granted under Law no. 141/2025, the regulator has successfully issued over 60 removal orders and blacklisted more than 300 illegal domains between April 2025 and April 2026.
Rigorous Inspections and Legal Pressure
The ONJN’s inspection program was particularly high-velocity during this period, with inspectors carrying out 11,000 checks across both land-based and online sectors. These actions resulted in the confiscation or disabling of 260 devices and the filing of 70 criminal complaints related to unpaid taxes and revenue manipulation.
Financial penalties were also substantial:
- Land-based segment: 7,000 inspections led to fines totaling 8.1 million lei (€1.5 million).
- Online segment: 3,500 inspections resulted in 1.2 million lei in fines.
Technological Innovations: The “Unique European Mechanism”
In a move to modernize the sector, ONJN has launched a public digital register for gaming machines. Each machine must now feature a QR code linked to geolocation tracking in the Government Private Cloud, a system the regulator describes as a “unique European mechanism.”
Additionally, the national self-exclusion system has grown to cover 54,000 individuals, with a new draft Emergency Ordinance proposing mandatory ID checks and cooling-off periods for all operators.
Vlad-Cristian Soare, President at ONJN, summarized the year’s progress:
“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.”
