Romania
⚠ Some figures here are still settling — medium confidence. Verify against the primary regulator before relying on them.
Romania licenses remote gambling under Government Emergency Ordinance (GEO) 77/2009, with the National Gambling Office (ONJN, established 2013) operating the current online-licensing regime since 2015. GEO 82/2023 and GEO 80/2024 overhauled the market: higher annual licence fees, a GGR-based annual authorization tax, a mandatory Romanian registered office or an EU/EEA entity with a permanent establishment registered in Romania, larger guarantee funds, an unlicensed-operator blacklist, and a new self-excluded-persons procedure (ONJN Order 79/2025, effective 17 June 2025). Operators pay a two-tier charge — a flat annual licence fee plus an authorization tax tied to gross gaming revenue — and player winnings are taxed progressively at withdrawal. Because several key figures were changed mid-2023 to 2025, confidence is set to medium and figures should be re-checked against ONJN before reliance.
The 2023-2025 reform wave
Between 2023 and 2025 Romania rewrote the economics of its licensed market rather than its structure. GEO 82/2023 and GEO 80/2024 amended the base law (GEO 77/2009) without replacing the 2015 online regime, layering on higher charges, larger guarantee funds, a local-presence rule and a self-exclusion overhaul. The stated direction was fiscal consolidation and channelling players toward licensed operators. Because these instruments were emergency ordinances issued in quick succession and partly amended by later legislation, their combined effect settled unevenly; individual thresholds should be read against the consolidated text on ONJN rather than any single ordinance.
Reading the charges
The cost sits in layers that stack rather than substitute. A flat annual licence charge (reported at EUR 300,000) is separate from an annual authorisation tax tied to gross gaming revenue, raised to roughly 30 percent of GGR from 1 August 2025 with a floor near EUR 480,000. Alongside these, a monthly charge of about 2 percent is levied on participation fees (turnover), and a separate progressive withholding, reported from around 3 to 40 percent, applies to player winnings at withdrawal. These bases differ (revenue, turnover, player payouts), so headline percentages are not directly comparable.
Local presence, explained
A distinctive feature of the reformed regime is that a licence-holder must have a Romanian registered office, or, for an EU/EEA entity, a permanent establishment registered in Romania. In practice this ties licensing to Romanian tax registration and typically a local point of contact, moving the framework away from purely remote licensing toward physical and fiscal anchoring in the jurisdiction. For operators already licensed elsewhere in the EU, it represents an additional establishment and compliance step rather than mutual recognition; the precise permanent-establishment criteria are a matter for Romanian tax law and ONJN guidance.
Blacklist and enforcement
The reforms paired higher entry costs with sharper enforcement tools. ONJN maintains a blacklist of unlicensed operators, used as a basis for blocking measures, and reporting from the regulator's first mandate year emphasised action against the unlicensed market and funding of treatment. On self-exclusion, ONJN Order 79/2025, in force from 17 June 2025, approved a unified national procedure and a central register that operators must check before a gaming session. The register's practical rollout was contested and delayed, so its day-to-day operation is best confirmed directly with ONJN.
Why figures are unsettled
This profile is treated as medium confidence for a reason. Core numbers, the GGR tax rate and floor, the licence charge, winnings withholding bands and guarantee-fund minimums, were changed across 2023 to 2025 by successive ordinances and amending laws, and some took effect only from August 2025. Commentary during the period also referred to possible restructuring of the regulator itself. Anyone relying on a specific rate, threshold or effective date should verify it against the current consolidated legislation and ONJN's own published guidance rather than earlier summaries, which may reflect superseded figures.
Tax
Gross gaming revenue (GGR) for the annual authorization tax; participation fees (turnover) for the monthly charge
30% of GGR authorisation tax (from 1 Aug 2025), min €480,000/yr
Online authorization tax was raised under the 2023-2025 reforms; a separate monthly charge of ~2% on participation fees also applies, plus a progressive withholding on player winnings (~3% to 40%). Reformed 2023-2025; the 30% GGR authorisation tax and €300,000 annual licence fee verified against ICLG (2026-08-03). Distinct from the annual licence fee.
Key facts
RTP rules
No statutory numeric minimum RTP was located for online or land-based slots. Under the framework (GEO 77/2009 and its norms, GD 111/2016) each game's RTP must be certified by an ONJN-licensed Class II laboratory and approved by the ONJN before launch; the rules refer to a minimum winning percentage as a per-game certification category rather than a stated statutory figure.
Operators must publish transparent game rules and disclose the odds, and each game's RTP must be certified, but no instrument requiring a specific RTP figure to be displayed to players was located.
Licence types
Fees
Change-watch
GEO 82/2023 overhauled the regime: higher fees, GGR-based authorization tax, larger guarantees and enforcement/blacklist measures
GEO 80/2024 and related measures tightened local-presence and B2B compliance obligations
Authorization tax ~30% of GGR (min ~EUR 480,000) from 1 Aug 2025; self-exclusion register procedure (Order 79/2025) effective 17 June 2025
Sources (2)
Not legal or tax advice. This is a teaching summary; confirm every figure against the primary regulator (Oficiul National pentru Jocuri de Noroc (National Gambling Office)) before relying on it.