Top 5 most frequent complaints addressed to online casinos

Looking over the comments that Romanian bettors make on various sites or reviews that they leave after using the applications of gambling operators, I found that the most frequent complaints addressed to online casinos in recent times are largely related to 5 conditions: problems in withdrawing winnings, ambiguities in the use of bonuses and their running conditions, the running conditions of the term. self-exclusion, the black market – playing on unlicensed platforms.

1) Problems with withdrawing money

This is one of the biggest problems that online casino players claim when they complain to the authorities, especially the National Office for Gambling (ONJN) on this issue. The main sources of dissatisfaction are:

• Unjustified delay in payments: Payments are processed in periods ranging from a few weeks to a few months. Why? This process can harm the reputation of the gambling operator in question in the long run. If everything is OK, I don’t see why payments to players would be delayed
• Requesting documents only at the time of withdrawal. Players complain that they are asked for additional documents only when they request to withdraw money from their account. Only at those times are they asked for additional documents. Why only then? Perhaps operators should conduct a periodic audit of all client accounts they have in their portfolio and request additional documents on other occasions as well. Otherwise, players suspect that they are not asked for documents when they lose money or make deposits, but only when they want to make withdrawals.
• Account restriction complaints: Players accuse the operator of being untransparent, abruptly closing communication with them and closing their gaming accounts without relevant and fully understandable explanations, forcing players to turn to the ONJN or to lawyers to seek further clarification. Operators could do much more to communicate with players and provide them with clear explanations directly.

2) Bonus granting and wagering requirements

Players are not fully aware of how bonuses and wagering requirements work, accusing:

• Confusing language in explaining promotions.
• Vague (unclear) terms and conditions that change frequently.
• Cancellation of winnings: profits are canceled on the grounds that the player did not correctly fulfill the “wagering requirements”, although the platform did not provide transparent information about them. Instead of the platform warning him during the respective process, it lets him believe that he has carried out the wagering of the respective bonuses in accordance with the operator’s conditions and suddenly “penalizes” him, leaving a bitter taste in the player’s mouth and an unpleasant experience that frustrates him.

3) Failure to comply with the site’s terms and conditions

We’ve talked about this before in Casino Inside. Before you “throw yourself” at any bonus or unmissable promotional offer, be sure to read the Terms and Conditions of the site where you have your gaming account because that’s where all the things you need to take into account when you encounter the vast majority of problems you have with operators are listed. How withdrawals are made, from which bank account, bonus rollover conditions, and so on. Everything that governs your relationship with the operator is listed there. We know, there’s a lot of content written there, but if you want to avoid problems when you’re in love, it would be advisable to read and understand everything. If you can’t understand everything that’s written there, contact the support department via chat and ask for more clarification, it’s better to be informed in advance.

What are the most important things you will find in the Terms and Conditions of Use of Online Gambling Platforms:

• You must be the only user of the account
• Withdrawals of money from your gaming account will be returned to the bank account you declared when opening the gaming account
• Both deposits and withdrawals must be made in your personal name, from an account or card registered in your name, the player’s, not a relative or friend’s.
• The name on the player’s account must match the name on the identity card, the name on the card or the payment account
• Patience in processing payments
• Interruption of the internet connection
• Abuse of bonuses
• Suspension of the gaming account
• Unilateral closure of gaming accounts by the operator

4) Self-exclusion

One of the major problems in Romania at the moment among Romanian online gambling players is the way of understanding the self-exclusion process. It should be noted that the process of self-exclusion from gambling in Romania is in the process of legislative clarification and the establishment of a clear mechanism. The legislation will make a clear delimitation between self-exclusion, which will become the exclusive prerogative of the ONJN, and restriction, which will be a relationship between the operator and the player.

On June 17, 2025, the “Order for the approval of the Procedure for the submission and processing of self-exclusion requests, requests for withdrawal of consent for the processing of personal data for the purpose of self-exclusion, as well as the access of gambling organizers to the database of self-excluded persons, in accordance with the provisions of art. 151 of Government Emergency Ordinance no. 77/2009 on the organization and operation of gambling games” was published in the Official Gazette.

This order includes:

-Request for self-exclusion

-Request for withdrawal of consent regarding the processing of personal data for the purpose of self-exclusion

-Notarial declaration on one’s own responsibility

-Affidavit certified by a lawyer

complaints addressed to online casinos

On February 9, 2026, the National Office for Gambling and the National Institute for Research and Development in Informatics – ICI Bucharest signed a collaboration protocol through which an IT solution will be developed to improve the self-exclusion system for players.

The proposed amendment submitted by ONJN intends to eliminate all existing legislative deficiencies regarding the self-exclusion procedure and to establish a coherent and efficient mechanism, which will provide real protection to vulnerable persons.

Among the main measures proposed, we highlight:

• Establishment of a single self-exclusion procedure, carried out through ONJN, enforceable against all gambling organizers, both online and land-based;
• Establishment of clearly defined periods for self-exclusion, including the possibility of an indefinite period, as well as the introduction of a cool-off period, during which self-exclusion will not be able to be withdrawn.
• Clarification of terminology: self-exclusion will be single, carried out through ONJN, including by remote means, and will be enforceable against all gambling organizers, while restriction will be a relationship between the operator and the player and will represent an interruption of the commercial relationship.
• Obligation to display information regarding self-exclusion, in a visible place on online gambling sites, respectively displaying a QR code in physical locations, which will send to the ONJN website, where self-exclusion will be possible.

In conclusion, things will be clarified in this case in the coming period.

5) Unlicensed platforms and fraud

The practice of cloning the websites of operators in the online gambling industry has become a regular practice lately.

Players should keep in mind that a clone website creates the appearance of a licensed entity, but is actually a duplicate site of a licensed operator. On such a clone site, you as a player are deprived of legal guarantees regarding the fairness of the game, the security of transactions, or the protection of personal data, and so on. Be careful, therefore, that a clone site is not only an attack on a brand, but also a mechanism through which the illegal market infiltrates a heavily regulated sector. Players must be very careful where they play because if they are deceived by such sites, they will not be able to recover their deposited money or any (illusory) winnings that the clone site offers you.

ONJN blocked over 200 such sites in 2025.

Finally, we inform you that if you have a problem with a licensed online casino, you can file an official complaint in the following way:

• Online Portal: www.portal.onjn.gov.ro Online Petition Section (it is recommended to use the Microsoft Edge browser).
• By mail to the address: Calea Victoriei no. 9, Sector 3, Bucharest, postal code 030022
• At the registry of the National Office for Gambling (ONJN): Calea Victoriei no. 9, Sector 3, Bucharest