Romania to Limit Gambling Spending to 10% of Monthly Income

Romania is looking for ways to limit the amounts its citizens spend on gambling each month.

Romanian site Profit.to has cited a fresh legislative proposal that would impose a monthly limit on gambling expenses, equivalent to no more than 10% of the previous month’s income.

The Measure Would Limit Gambling Addiction and Excessive Play

According to the respective draft, Romanians would not be able to spend more than 10% of their previous month’s income on online gambling or at physical gambling venues, and it would cover betting, casinos, slots, and other forms of gambling. 

A person earning 5,000 RON ($1,084) this month would only be allowed to spend a maximum of 500 RON ($108.5) on gambling the following month. 

Similarly, for an amount of 10,000 RON ($2,170), the maximum amount allowed for betting and casinos would be capped at 1,000 RON ($217). 

The measure would successfully prevent excessive spending, high debt, and gambling addiction.

Banks and ANAF to Monitor Compliance

Financial institutions managing players’ accounts would be responsible for enforcing the imposed limit for online gambling. 

In the case of physical gambling venues, this responsibility would fall into the hands of operators.

Essentially, banks would monitor compliance with the proposed limits for online transactions and report any violations. Failure to comply would result in fines of up to 1% of their turnover.

For physical gambling venues, operators would check players’ available balance through a platform provided by the National Agency for Fiscal Administration (ANAF) and report the amounts spent in real-time.

Failure to comply with the rules would result in fines ranging from 200,000 RON ($43,416) to 500,000 RON ($108,540). Upon a second violation, the operator’s license would be revoked.

The funds collected from fines would be allocated to prevention and financial education programs managed by the National Gambling Office in collaboration with ANAF.

In July 2022, the country’s Ministry of Finance published a Fiscal Code draft featuring a 40% tax on casino withdrawals.

At the end of last month, we reported that, according to the audit report published by the Court of Accounts, the National Office for Gambling, which is Romania’s regulatory body, failed to effectively monitor online gambling in the country.