ONJN opened 2026 with a compliance program built on four pillars: a single ONJN-run self-exclusion system, a QR-based public register of gaming machines, automated monitoring of transactions and bonuses, and a fully electronic filing platform, backed by €5 million for harm prevention. The program was announced in January 2026 by then-president Vlad-Cristian Soare. Since 21 August 2026 ONJN has a new president, Valentin-Ioan Tomescu, and the agenda now has to survive a change of leadership and a criminal investigation.
Key points
- One national self-exclusion process, managed by ONJN rather than operators.
- Every slot machine and VLT tied to a geolocated QR code in the central register.
- Electronic filing for licensing, compliance submissions and correspondence.
- Tighter action against illegal online gambling with platforms, ISPs and payment providers.
- €5 million for prevention, education and treatment in 2026.
A regulator rebuilding credibility
Soare took over in spring 2025 after a Court of Accounts audit questioned how close to €1 billion in gambling taxes and fees had gone unrecorded. ONJN’s own figures for 2025: more than 200 gaming machines confiscated, more than 200 unlicensed websites blacklisted and 48 criminal complaints filed over unlicensed operations and financial crime. Soare described 2025 as a “non-linear and uncomfortable path” that still produced results.
Enforcement first, but with structure
The 2026 program moved from one-off raids to systems. ONJN said that from early 2026 it had full access to operators’ servers and their required reports, and it began comparing operators’ ONJN declarations with their ANAF filings. In February 2026 it announced audits into suspected manipulation of the GGR tax base, including a slot operator with a gap of about RON 18 million and an online operator with a gap of about RON 5 million.
For licensees, the practical point is simple: the figures you declare to ONJN and to ANAF must reconcile. Our compliance calendar sets out the filings involved.
Centralized self-exclusion and player protection
ONJN proposed a single national self-exclusion framework binding on all online and land-based operators, run solely by the regulator, with fixed or indefinite periods, a cooling-off phase during which a self-exclusion cannot be withdrawn, and a clear line between ONJN self-exclusion and an operator-level account restriction. The current procedure rests on ONJN Order 79/2025 and art. 15^1 of OUG 77/2009; the wider system needs legislative change. Breaches already carry real exposure, as we explain in self-exclusion breaches and ONJN enforcement.
Transparency through technology
The QR system links each slot machine and VLT to ONJN’s central register, so a citizen can check where a machine is, who owns it and whether it is authorized. Licensing applications, compliance submissions and official correspondence are moving to an electronic platform, which also reduces direct contact between operators and officials.
Tackling illegal online gambling
ONJN reported a 98% takedown rate in 2025 for illegal gambling content aimed at Romanian users on Meta, Google and TikTok. For 2026 it promised faster domain blocking, closer work with payment providers and a WhatsApp channel for public reports. Suppliers are part of this: since Law 141/2025, Class 2 software, platform and payment providers must block unlicensed operators and report monthly to ONJN. See our Class 2 (B2B) license page for the supplier duties.
Social responsibility moves to the front
€5 million was set aside for 2026 to fund local authorities and civil-society programs on prevention, education and intervention. It is the first nationwide, structured harm-prevention spending by ONJN, and it signals a public-health approach alongside the fiscal one.
Political context and legislative pressure
About 20 legislative proposals were filed at the end of 2025. Two passed the Senate in February 2026: raising the minimum gambling age from 18 to 21 (96 votes to 8) and banning online gambling advertising between 06:00 and 24:00, including ads with well-known personalities (90 votes to 9). Both were still before the Chamber of Deputies, the decision-making chamber, at mid-2026. Separately, OUG 7/2026 gave local councils the power to ban land-based gambling from 25 February 2026.
What applies now (2026)
The agenda outlived its author. On 29 July 2026 prosecutors from the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) searched ONJN’s Bucharest headquarters in a probe concerning officials in the control and authorization directorates; we cover it in the DNA investigation at ONJN. In early July the Court of Auditors reported on ONJN’s 2024 activity, finding that monitoring of land-based monthly declarations had been absent and control of online licensees insufficient. On 21 August 2026, by Decisions 283/2026 and 284/2026 published in Monitorul Oficial no. 696, the Prime Minister released Soare and appointed Valentin-Ioan Tomescu, previously head of ONJN’s South-East territorial service in Constanța. No reasons were given.
For licensees, nothing in the change of leadership relaxes the rules. Server access, cross-checks with ANAF, self-exclusion and blocking duties are in place. Operators and suppliers should keep their declarations reconciled, their notifications current and their customer lists clean. The current costs and procedure are in our Romania licensing guide.