A glimpse into the future: the new obligations of class 2 licensed operators in Romania

Increased roles and responsibilities in the fight against the black market

► by Petruș Partene Managing Associate and Radu Ioniță Associate WH Simion and Partners

Radu Ionita, Associate WH Simion and Partners

Petrus Partene, Senior Associate WH Simion and Partners

Law 141/2025 on some fiscal-budgetary measures, published in the Official Gazette on 25 July 2025, is not only

limited to tax increases, but also marks a paradigm shift in the state’s approach in its fight against the black market in the gambling industry. Through the amendments brought to the Government Emergency Ordinance no. 77/2009 on the organization and operation of gambling („GEO 77/2009”), the class 2 licensed operators acquire a main role in the set of actions necessary to be taken to combat the development of gambling activities by unlicensed gambling operators, as it follows from the systematic corroborated analysis of the new provisions.

Essentially, the new amendments aim, on the one hand, to block the „supply” of related necessary services to unlicensed/illegal operators, and on the other hand, to report to the National Office for Gambling („ONJN”) the unlicensed operators that allow access to gambling on the territory of Romania. Given the scale and complexity of these changes, we aim for this article to provide a concise overview of each obligation.

black market

1. Obligations regarding the prohibition of the provision of services to certain entities:

The main change is found in art. 1 of GEO 77/2009, where paragraph (5^2) was supplemented, and eight other paragraphs were added. As we have shown in the introductory part of this article, the following restrictions applicable to class 2 licensed operators have been established:

• All Class 2 licensed operators are prohibited from providing services to unlicensed Class I operators that (i) offer all or part of the content on their website in Romanian, and/or (ii) accept deposits in RON or other currencies (including crypto-assets), and/or (iii) allow access to the site to players on the territory of Romania or to Romanian citizens who do not have tax residence in another state.
• All class 2 licensed operators are prohibited from providing services to entities or internet domains that are included in the ONJN blacklist.
• All class 2 licensed operators are prohibited from providing services to internet entities/domains that offer games of chance that can be accessed through IP addresses in Romania, if these entities/internet domains do not have a license for organization and an authorization for exploitation issued by the ONJN
• Operators holding a Class 2 license for the production and distribution of software, and/or hosting and platform management services, and/or payment processing activities are required to implement technical measures that allow the identification of the real location of players, regardless of the information shared as a result of the integration of the services with the gaming platform operated by the Class I operator.
• In each case where operators holding a Class 2 license for the production and distribution of software, and/or platform hosting and management services, and/or payment processing activities identify that unlicensed Class I operators offer their services to players accessing the gaming platform in Romania / to Romanian players who do not have tax residence in another state, must restrict players’ access to their systems and must immediately request unlicensed Class I operators to remedy this situation, so that the services of that unlicensed operator are no longer accessible from the territory of Romania.

2. Reporting obligations to the ONJN:

The new amendments also regulate two types of reports, one monthly and the other at the request of the ONJN, which must be submitted by class 2 licensed operators who hold a license for the production and distribution of software, and/or hosting and platform management services, and/or payment processing activities, as follows:

• The aforementioned operators have the obligation to draw up a report (which must be made available at any time at the request of the ONJN) which includes (i) the list of states on whose territory the IT system is accessed by the players, and (ii) the identification details of the entities that allow access to Romanian players / Romanian citizens who do not have tax residence in another state.
• In addition, they are obliged to submit to the ONJN, on a monthly basis (no later than the 10th of the month for the period covering the entire previous month), a centralized statement that includes: (i) the number of players for whom access has been blocked, and (ii) the internet domains, platforms or applications through which this access has been attempted.

3. Sanctions:

The sanctioning regime has also been modified. In this regard, after 30 days from the date of entry into force of the above-mentioned provisions (July 28, 2025), the following sanctions are applicable:

• Imprisonment from 6 months to 2 years or criminal fine for providing services to unlicensed Class I operators who (i) offer content in whole or in part on their website in Romanian, and/or (ii) accept deposits in RON or other currencies (including cryptoassets), and/or (iii) allow access to the site to players from the territory of Romania or to Romanian citizens who do not have tax residence in another state. In this case, the class 2 license will be revoked.
• Imprisonment from 6 months to 2 years or a criminal fine for providing services to internet entities/domains that are included in the ONJN blacklist.
• Imprisonment from 6 months to 2 years or a criminal fine for providing services to internet entities/domains that offer gambling that can be accessed through IP addresses in Romania, if these internet entities/domains do not have an organization license and operating authorization issued by the ONJN.

Even though these amendments represent an important step in the state’s efforts to control the black market phenomenon, there are still practical difficulties in applying these provisions. These difficulties are generated either by the technical limitations applicable to gambling operators generated by the way of developing software programs, or by the incompatibility of legal provisions, as reflected in the updated legal texts, with the activities carried out by class 2 licensed operators. In any case, a series of clarifications on this subject from the ONJN would be welcome at the industry level, in order to understand how class 2 licensed operators can adapt to the new legal regime and how they can continue to provide their gambling services on the Romanian market without affecting contractual relations with other entities operating gambling in other jurisdictions in full compliance with the legal provisions.

WH Simion & Partners