Regulated
It can be stated, as a general feature, that the activity in the field of gambling enjoys a thorough legal regulation through dedicated special laws. Romania is a regulated market; the gambling activity is subject to licensing and authorisation.

The organisation and operating of gambling are administered by the ONJN (Oficial National Pentru Jocuri de Noroc). The Romanian State, through the ONJN, which is set up under the Ministry of Finance, may grant the right to organise and operate gambling on the basis of a licence and an authorisation to operate gambling (except monopolies – e.g., Lottery games).

The requirements and procedure for granting licences and authorisations are precisely regulated, their granting depends strictly and exclusively on the fulfilment of the legal conditions, and the timeframe for solving applications for licences and authorisations is set at 30 days from the date of submission of the complete documentation.

The current legislation in the field of gambling seems to be stable, consolidated over time and with no fundamental changes in the field regarding licensing or authorisation expected (since its adoption, Ordinance 77/2019, has undergone some changes but not with regard to the licensing and authorisation procedure but with regard to the rules on the operation of licensed and authorised operators). From the point of view of taxation, as of January 1, 2019, a new additional tax was established for online operators. Other changes to taxation were made by Ordinance 15/2022. Subsequently, fees and other types of costs associated with the activity were increased by Emergency Ordinance 82/2023 approved with amendments by Law 107/2024.

Market size
The size of the gambling market in Romania can only be estimated given that there is no official centralised data on the revenues from the industry and no official statistics on these issues.

However, there are certain market studies on this industry (e.g., Studii de piata) as well as estimates made by associations of industry operators and other entities based on the financial results reported by industry operators and various media reports that employ these data and estimates. According to them, in 2019, the gambling industry (both online and land-based) would have generated revenues for the operators in the field of approximately EUR 2.2B (Growing gaming industry). The gambling sector would notice an increase from year-on-year, with increases in the last period of 15% per year. However, given that the data relates to both online and land-based operators, the measures taken in 2020 in the context of the pandemic are likely to affect this sector, as shown by various employers’ associations in the field which estimates that 20,000 employees in the industry deem their jobs to be at risk.

Other data on the current market situation can be extracted from the explanatory notes of ORDINANCE no. 15 of 15 July 2022 amending and supplementing Government Emergency Ordinance no. 77/2009 on the organisation and operation of gambling.

According to these notes “With regard to remote gambling, in the period 2020 – 2021 there is an increase in the number of licensed operators operating on the territory of Romania, with a percentage of 35%, compared to 2019, and the registered revenues have doubled, which means that the restrictions imposed by the pandemic have redirected players to gambling at remote gambling.”

Romanians spent a record 11.7 billion lei (€2.4 billion) in casinos, gambling halls and online – money spent on betting – last year, about 15% more than the previous year. This industry has grown strongly in Romania in recent years (up to and including 2019 and then again from 2021 onwards) on the back of accelerated development in offline, but also in online of companies active in the field. “ (Ziarul Financiar October 2023).

ONJN displays lists of licensed operators online. ONJN has the obligation to update at least once every 24 hours a public register accessible online containing the name and data regarding the operators licensed/approved to organise gambling.

Competitive landscape
According to official data of the Romanian National Gambling Office (ONJN), at the end of 2022, 31 operators were licensed (Class 1) for the organisation and operating of gambling. In addition, at the end of 2022, 475 Class 2 licences (B2B operators) were issued. In the last two years the number of licensed operators has increased by more than 20%. On the other hand, at the date of this update, the number of Class I licensed operators remained unchanged and the number of Class II licensed operators decreased by about 5% compared to the end of 2022 (which could probably be attributed to the increase in fees).

Localisation
Payment services on the territory of Romania may be provided by payment service providers including electronic money institutions and payment institutions as defined by Law 209/2019 on payment services.

For remote or online gambling, the means of payment used and the funds, including cards, must be operated through a payment processor licensed by the ONJN (it is about class 2 licence). The remote gambling organiser licensed in Romania shall deposit the players’ funds only in bank accounts opened with banks on the Romanian national territory.

From the data published on the official website of the ONJN it appears that at the end of 2022 there are more than 40 payment service providers licensed as class 2.

Top Key Attractions and Challenges
Attractions

• The market is regulated, the presence of well-known operators in the market
• Internet speed
• Growing market
• No prohibition for gambling operators licensed in Romania to accept players from other jurisdictions
• Relatively open marketing regime

Challenges

• High taxes