Romania’s Gambling Regulator Faces Scrutiny over Online Betting Oversight

Romania’s National Office for Gambling (ONJN) is at the center of a new controversy after a scathing report published by the Court of Accounts, which found that the regulatory body has never effectively monitored online gambling in the country. The audit uncovered discrepancies in authorization fees amounting to tens of millions of lei, leading to significant revenue losses for the state budget.

Gambling Companies Operated Practically Without Oversight

Since its establishment, ONJN has faced difficulties fulfilling its legal duties, such as examining retained data from gaming operators and verifying the accuracy of periodic reports submitted by these companies. The compliance audit, covering 2019 to 2023, revealed significant deviations in ONJN’s operations, raising concerns about missed revenues and insufficient accountability.

The audit report pointed out that ONJN granted licenses to online gambling operators without enforcing the requirement for a monitoring terminal at ONJN headquarters. This terminal, meant to grant the regulator secure, real-time access to essential gambling data, was never implemented, leaving authorities without direct oversight of the industry’s operations.

The Court of Accounts found that ONJN failed to enforce even minimal verification of financial declarations made by gambling operators. Considerable discrepancies thus inevitably arose in the authorization fees that should have been collected. The report highlighted 78.8 million lei ($16,63 million) of unpaid authorization fees for 2022 and 2023 alone, with the total cost to the state budget estimated at over 116 million lei ($24,5 million).

The Regulator Had Other Significant Failings

The high concentration of online gaming operators registered in Malta is another problem that creates regulatory challenges for Romanian authorities. A re-alignment in minimum return-to-player (RTP) levels for companies with a Maltese license allowed operators to modify their payout structures and underreport earnings, impacting gross gaming revenue (GGR) calculations and significantly reducing taxation payouts.

ONJN also reportedly faced systemic issues in other areas. From 2014 to 2023, there were no global measures of control to check whether online gambling operators were accurately reporting and paying their tax obligations. Furthermore, ONJN’s Responsible Gaming Promotion Service, tasked with preventing gambling addiction and protecting vulnerable groups, was reportedly largely ineffective.

Given the gravity of these recent findings, the Court of Accounts issued several recommendations to address the most glaring issues. It also considers potentially notifying Romania’s criminal prosecution bodies to investigate potential legal violations. The revelations have caused widespread criticism about the regulator’s actions and sparked calls for extensive regulatory reform in the country’s gambling sector.