The Romanian Legal Affairs Committee cleared a parliamentary proposal for overhauling the country’s gambling self-exclusion regulations. The proposed changes include quicker response times, online accessibility, and strict penalties for non-compliance, including a six-month license suspension.
Key Points of the Story
- Romanian players can continue gambling even after signing up for self-exclusion services, due to outdated registries and operator negligence. The updated regulations seek to enforce stricter measures to prevent such fallacies.
- The proposed amendments include easier online access, strict deadlines, forced refunds, mandatory cool-off periods, transparent reporting, public reporting, and license suspensions.
- The Save Romania Union (USR) party has called for immediately clearing the bill at the Senate plenary, reiterating the party’s commitment to public safety and mental health.
Enforcing Strict Measures to Reinforce the Gambling Self-Exclusion Framework
Romania is all set to adopt a comprehensive gambling self-exclusion program devised by the Save Romania Union (USR) liberal party. The decision comes in the aftermath of the tax scandal at the National Office for Gambling (ONJN). The proposal put forth by USR Deputy Diana Stoica outlines plans to streamline the process to execute gambling self-exclusion requests.
The USR proposes setting firmer deadlines, facilitating online self-exclusion requests, and penalising operators that ignore self-exclusion requests. This amendment comes on the backdrop of long-standing demands made by self-advocacy groups and consumers. Players claim that even after signing up for self-exclusion, they can access online gambling platforms.
The reformations propose direct amendments to these failures by setting clear mandates for enforcement and introducing accountability at an operational level. Commenting on the bill, Stoica said:
The voice of thousands of concerned citizens has been heard. Lawmakers must stop colluding with the gambling industry and take firm action. We cannot treat addiction with administrative indifference.
Proposed Reforms to Introduce Accountability
Romania is all set to introduce a mandatory gambling self-exclusion registry, which will be published on the ONJN website. The government is advocating for strict deadlines, requiring operators to act within 24 hours and encouraging the ONJN to update its database within 48 hours.
The bill also introduces several crucial changes to the current statutes. The list includes:
- Easy Online Access: Players can opt in for gambling self-exclusion from the ONJN platform.
- Strict Deadlines: Operators must act upon self-exclusion requests within 24 hours, and the ONJN must update its database within 48 hours.
- Mandatory Cool-off: A minimum 12-month exclusion period is mandated for indefinite self-exclusion requests.
- Public Reporting: ONJN must publish the list of processed self-exclusion requests.
- Enforced Refunds: Operators must refund any gambling losses incurred within the self-exclusion period within 48 hours.
- Licence Suspensions: Gambling operators that fail to comply with the regulation can have their licenses revoked for up to 6 months.
- Public Awareness Measures: Operators must educate consumers about available support systems, such as addiction counselling and treatments.
USR’s gambling reforms are part of a larger effort to regulate the Romanian gambling industry, which is projected to reach US$2.59bn in 2025. The liberal party supports a second legislature that proposes to impose a cap on players’ gambling expenses at 10% of their reported monthly income. This proposal is currently on hold due to the recently concluded Presidential elections.
Despite coming to power on May 18, President Nicușor Dan is yet to appoint senior members to legislative positions or define new regulatory policies. As a result, USR’s affordability bill is stuck in the Senate. However, the situation could soon take a positive turn as Vlad-Cristian Soare assumes his role at the helm of the ONJN.
Under his leadership, the regulator will likely rebuild its authority. Soare has pledged to end political indifference toward gambling regulations and prioritise consumer safety and responsible gambling. The bill proposing regulatory reforms is headed toward parliamentary clearance. Experts believe this will place the Romanian gambling market at par with most European gambling markets.