Proposal for Romanian gambling self-exclusion programme moves to full Senate debate
The Senate’s Legal Committee has advanced a bill that would introduce a new mandatory exclusion system.
Romania.- The Senate Legal Committee has advanced a bill that would introduce regulations for a new gambling self-exclusion system in Romania. The bill will now move to a full debate on June 10.
Proposed by the Save Romania Union (USR) Party’s Diana Stoica, the bill is classed as a consumer protection measure. It would order the creation of a new online gambling self-exclusion register on the website of the national gambling regulator, the ONJN. There would be a minimum 12-month cooling-off period for indefinite self-exclusion, and those who exclude would be referred to addiction support services.
Operators would have 24 hours to process exclusion requests and the ONJN would have to update its records within 48 hours. Meanwhile, operators would have to refund mistakenly allowed bets within 48 hours.
Operators who don’t comply could have their licences suspended for six months. Statistics on exclusion would be made public.
Following the committee’s approval, Stoica said: “The voices of thousands struggling with addiction have been acknowledged. The state must stop enabling the gambling industry and take decisive action. Addiction cannot be addressed with bureaucratic apathy.”
The European Gaming and Betting Association had advocated for the creation of a proper gambling self-exclusion system in Romania. Speaking at an event hosted by the Romanian Online Gambling Association AOJND at the parliamentary palace in Bucharest, secretary general Maarten Haijer said a system should be introduced “as quickly as possible”.
Further reforms for gambling in Romania
Meanwhile, the USR is proposing further reforms for regulated gambling in Romania. Another bill would limit player spending to 10 per cent of declared monthly income. This bill has been held up due to a delay in parliamentary discussions following last month’s presidential election, won by former mayor Bucharest mayor Nicușor Dan.
The proposals follow controversy around the role of the Romanian gambling regulator after a Court of Accounts (CCR) audit of the ONJN found serious irregularities in its supervision of gambling licences, including its collection of authorisation fees and gambling tax. The regulator was found to have failed to enforce a legal requirement to gain remote access to online gambling licensees’ systems, which prevented it from being able to verify transaction data.
Last month, Vlad-Cristian Soare, a former general director of the Romanian National Lottery, was named president of the regulator after Gheorghe Gabriel Gheorghe resigned ahead of the presidential election on May 18.
