The Chamber of Deputies of the Romanian Parliament have adopted a bill which provides that no more halls with gaming machines will be installed in localities with a population of less than 15.000 inhabitants. The project has already been adopted by the Senate and the decision-making body is the Chamber of Deputies.
The project was adopted by the Chamber of Deputies with 243 votes in favor, four abstentions and two deputies present in the room who did not vote.
According to this project, the commercial space where the operator offers gambling services, if it has slot machines, must be located in an administrative-territorial unit with a population exceeding 15.000 inhabitants.
Proof of the number of inhabitants is provided by a certificate issued by the municipality within whose territorial radius the proposed space is located, the project states.
“It is prohibited to provide, directly or indirectly, gambling-related activities to persons who do not hold a class 1 license issued by the ONJN (National Gambling Office) and who allow access to gambling to participants to the game who access the gaming platform from the territory of Romania and/or game participants who are Romanian citizens who do not have tax residence in another State", reads the project.
The President of the National Gambling Office must, within 90 days of the law coming into force, adopt the necessary technical measures to prevent and combat participants' access to gambling.
The ONJN is obliged to establish a public register, accessible online and updated at least once every 24 hours, which will include operators licensed/licensed to carry out gambling activities.
Operators who do not comply with the new rules will be fined between 10.000 lei and 200.000 lei. The amendments adopted in the bill of the Chamber of Deputies go to President Klaus Iohannis for promulgation.
During the debate on the amendments, opposition representatives called for a transparent debate on the eight bills regulating gambling and not only on the amendments proposed by PSD and PNL.
The leader of the AUR, George Simion, instead said that to pass this bill
Simonis explained that it is "a first test, a first shot and this will depend on how the market reacts, because entry into force is within 10 days of publication in the Official Journal, that is, until the end of April". the next steps will be decided. “We will see how the industry will react, because from our point of view, given the consequences of this law (..) they have no way not to do it. We see and adapt as we go,” Simonis explained.
The interim president of the Chamber of Deputies, Alfred Simonis, declared that the law is "a first step, a first victory against the gambling industry, which in the next few days will have to close the gaming halls open beyond 90% of the localities in Romania".
“Even if it's not enough, even if there are still many things to do, after this law comes into force it will be better than it is today. Today it is a no-man's land, everyone can do what they want and can open anywhere anyway,” Simonis said.
The decree also introduces restrictions on advertising. The advertising of gambling games authorized on the national territory is carried out in compliance with the principles established by law. The series and number of the organizational license held by the gambling organizer will be published in a visible place on promotional material. Pursuant to the article, actions carried out by the organizers directly in the venues and on their websites are not considered acts for advertising, publicity or promotional purposes.
- Advertising by sending unsolicited electronic messages containing information on one or more gambling games and external advertising for gambling games, websites hosting gambling platforms or branding using one of the trademarks used is prohibited. by a gambling operator, which exceed the size of 35 square metres/board/advertising material.
