Romania blocks 300+ gambling sites; Polymarket ban upheld

The Oficiul Național pentru Jocuri de Noroc (ONJN) published a 12-month activity report on April 24 detailing enforcement actions, new tools and policy changes under president Vlad-Cristian Soare. The report notes more than 300 unlicensed gambling websites were added to Romania’s blocking list during the period.

ONJN inspectors carried out about 11,000 control actions, issued fines totaling 10 million lei (roughly $2.2 million), revoked 60 operator licenses and filed 70 criminal complaints, the report says. Regulators issued over 60 takedown orders for illegal online content and reported a 98% compliance rate for those orders.

The agency launched a cloud-native public register of gaming devices in October 2025. The system assigns a unique QR code and requires geolocation tracking for each registered slot machine and video lottery terminal. The ONJN described the register as the first of its kind among European Union regulators. Legislation also expanded the agency’s authority to issue takedown orders under the EU Digital Services Act framework.

On player protection, the report says the self-exclusion registry has grown from about 30,000 unprocessed requests inherited when Soare took office to roughly 54,000 individuals. A draft emergency ordinance at the Ministry of Finance would standardize the self-exclusion process across land-based and online operators, introduce a mandatory cool-off period and set penalties of up to 100,000 lei for noncompliance.

On April 17 the ONJN opened applications for Conștient și Liber (Aware and Free), a €5 million state fund that will finance gambling addiction prevention and treatment. Applications close May 11, and grant implementation is scheduled from August through December 2026.

The report also records a court decision on April 1 in which a Bucharest court rejected Polymarket’s request to suspend the ONJN’s blacklist decision. In the report Soare wrote: “Whether you bet in lei or in crypto, if you wager money on a future outcome under counterparty conditions, we are talking about gambling that must be licensed.” He added that the ONJN would continue investigations and enforcement actions.

Romania joined the Balkan Gaming Federation in March, a regional industry body that coordinates policy across Western Balkan markets while leaving national regulators in charge. The ONJN noted that several reforms, including the Conștient și Liber program, the device register rollout and the unified self-exclusion ordinance, remain in early implementation and depend on further legislative or budgetary steps. The report says ongoing investigations and enforcement actions are expected to continue into the next mandate.