Romania Fully Regulates Online Gambling

Romania will now be able to regulate online gambling which will allow online companies to gain licenses and better protect online players.

Romania has been finally able to regulate online gambling through an emergency ordinance issued last year by government. Romania entrance into online gambling in Europe was a bit slow due to possible lack of vision for opportunities the internet held. Although sports betting was legalized in 2003, the move may have been intended for Romania to appear more like a viable state worthy of EU membership.

Prior to the partially regulated service in 2010, Romania was forces to follow some rulings by they EU that lacked transparency. Of course this created allowances for organized crime to misuse online gambling. Under the partially regulated service, Romanian companies could get government licenses. Unfortunately there wasn’t a regulatory body in the country which led to a reliance on foreign services.

New Regulation Will Offer More Protection

The new amended laws will guarantee regulation for players and operators. “Through this ordinance, the government has managed to regulate the online gambling sector, which was regulated in 2010, but not completely”, says Odette Nestor, president of Romania’s National Office for Gambling. The amendment was the result of pressure from the EU on Romania and other member states to better regulate online gambling.

“We now have a legal framework that allows gambling operators to get licensed in Romania and, through this licensing, we will protect minors and Romanian players.”
Romania attempted to regulate back in 2013 but faced EU gambling laws that required that online companies have physical bases as well as servers within the country. There was also a tax scheme for online poker that would unfairly tax every individual.