Romania Eliminates Self-Exclusion Policy Loophole

As of February 2025, more than 14,000 Romanians had requested to be self-excluded from gambling, according to data from the National Office for Gambling (ONJN). 

Romania has now taken a series of measures to close a significant loophole in its self-exclusion policy in an attempt to further improve its efficiency. 

Automatic Restrictions Across All Sites 

Gaming operators are now asked to apply a so-called single-account principle for self-exclusion, making sure players who choose to opt out of gambling are automatically restricted across all platforms.

This move aims to prevent a common workaround that currently allows self-excluded individuals to keep engaging in gambling activities by simply switching to a different operator. 

The change will enable Romania to align itself with broader European standards, where self-exclusion applies universally rather than on a platform-by-platform basis.

The directive has implications for gambling operators who may have previously treated self-exclusion requests as specific to individual platforms. 

In October 2024, Adevarul.ro reported the case of a gambling addict who was dissatisfied with the fact that state authorities continued to let him enter these locations despite filing a request to be banned.

Players, Entitled to Legal Claims 

With this clarification, those who failed to enforce cross-platform bans could face legal claims from players who continued gambling elsewhere despite having self-excluded. 

Some operators have already had to issue refunds due to legal challenges.

The country’s national self-exclusion system was introduced five years ago under legislation GD no. 111/2016, Art. 130. 

However, it was not clear whether a self-exclusion request should extend across all operators in the country or be limited to various platforms under the same license.

The ONJN’s latest directive now helps vanish this uncertainty, compelling operators to update their terms and conditions, responsible gambling, and internal compliance policies.

Those who won’t comply could lose their licenses or be slapped with fines.

Troubled Times 

The regulator is currently facing scrutiny following an audit that revealed a series of major irregularities. 

The list included failures in overseeing licensing fees and gambling tax revenue, which may have led to important tax losses estimated at between 3.3 billion and 4.3 billion RON ($721 million and $940 million). 

It also highlighted the agency’s failure to verify financial data submitted by gambling operators or to pay penalties when deemed necessary.

In the wake of these findings, the ONJN’s president, Gheorghe-Gabriel Gheorghe, declined to attend a parliamentary hearing called by the IT Committee. 

He challenged the authority of the USR Party-led committee to summon a regulatory body, arguing that they misunderstood the complexity of the audit’s findings. 

Gheorghe has requested a rescheduled hearing, promising to outline the corrective actions already taken.

Meanwhile, the USR Party has proposed transferring regulatory oversight to the national tax agency for land-based gambling and the National Bank for online operations. Additionally, the party has suggested capping gambling expenditures at 10% of a player’s monthly income across both online and physical venues.