On 16 February 2026 Romania’s Senate passed two bills amending OUG 77/2009: one raises the minimum gambling age from 18 to 21, the other bans online gambling advertising between 06:00 and 24:00 and the use of public figures to promote gambling on any platform. Neither is law yet. The Chamber of Deputies has the final vote and had not taken it at our last check in October 2026, so 18 remains the legal age and licensed online advertising remains lawful within the existing rules.
Key points
- The Senate adopted both bills in plenary on 16 February 2026, overriding committee reports that recommended rejection.
- Bill 1: minimum age for gambling, including entry to gambling halls, rises from 18 to 21.
- Bill 2: no online gambling advertising from 06:00 to 24:00, and no public figures in gambling promotion on any platform.
- The CNA Audiovisual Code already bans public figures and online personalities in audiovisual gambling ads.
- The Chamber of Deputies is the decisional chamber; the bills were reported stalled there at the end of April 2026.
Our take: Romania is targeting exposure, not just operators
For a decade the Romanian debate was about licenses and taxes. These bills shift it to how players are recruited. The initiatives, filed in November 2025 by MPs from PNL, USR, PSD and UDMR and championed by PNL deputy Raluca Turcan and USR deputy Diana Stoica, cleared the Senate despite negative committee reports. That tells you the political center of gravity: youth exposure to gambling is now a cross-party issue.
1. The 21+ proposal is a product redesign, not a checkbox
Moving the age to 21 touches every step of the customer journey:
- sign-up and age gates;
- KYC, including document checks for 18- to 20-year-olds already holding accounts;
- bonus eligibility and CRM segmentation;
- responsible-gambling triggers and affordability signals;
- for land-based venues, ID checks at the door.
Affiliates and media buyers would need audience filters set to 21+, and their contracts would need to show it. Large operators tend to pre-comply once a bill clears the first chamber, because rebuilding onboarding under a short transition period is costly.
2. The online ad “curfew” hits acquisition first
A ban between 06:00 and 24:00 leaves online gambling ads only between midnight and 06:00. That removes almost all peak attention hours. Performance marketing built on paid social, search and programmatic during the day would stop working. Expect budgets to shift toward:
- retention and CRM for existing, verified customers;
- sponsorships and brand formats that fall outside the bill’s definition;
- compliant content and organic channels.
Affiliate agreements would also change: stronger license and audience warranties, traffic audits and same-day takedown obligations.
3. The public-figure ban removes social proof
Athletes, creators and other trusted faces are the most effective persuasion tool in gambling marketing. Bill 2 would ban public figures from promoting gambling on any platform, extending a rule that already applies to broadcast and audiovisual content. Under the CNA Audiovisual Code adopted in 2025 (CNA Decision 573/2025), gambling ads may not feature public, cultural, scientific or sports figures or anyone whose online notoriety could encourage gambling. That restriction has been enforceable since 6 October 2025. The CNA has not set a follower threshold, so streamers and podcasters can fall within it case by case.
4. What the bills leave open
The Senate texts are short, and several questions would land on ONJN and the operators once they pass:
- Existing accounts. Nothing in the public summaries says how players aged 18 to 20 who already hold verified accounts would be treated. Operators should plan for suspension of those accounts on the effective date, and for refunding their balances.
- What counts as “online advertising.” Paid social and search ads are clearly in scope. Affiliate review sites, operator-owned content, push notifications and email to existing customers are less clear, and the answer will decide how much of the CRM budget survives.
- Sponsorship. The bill targets promotion through public figures and online broadcast. Shirt and stadium sponsorship are not obviously covered, but the earlier USR proposals to ban sports sponsorship show where the debate could go next.
- Transition period. The Senate texts as reported do not set one. If the final law takes effect a few days after publication, operators that waited will have to rebuild onboarding under deadline.
5. Who carries the risk
Responsibility would sit with the licensed operator, but enforcement in practice runs through the whole chain. Affiliates that target under-21s or run daytime campaigns would put their operator partners in breach, and their own Class 2 license at risk. Ad platforms are already used to ONJN requests to remove illegal gambling ads, and would be asked to apply the time window to licensed brands too.
Why this is happening now
Romanian politics increasingly frames gambling as a youth-exposure problem. Child-protection groups backed the bills; Salvați Copiii estimates that about 300,000 children live in families with at least one person dependent on gambling. Across Europe the trend runs the same way: tighter advertising rules, stronger responsible-gambling enforcement and more pressure on platforms to remove illegal promotion, as ONJN showed when it ordered Google and Meta to take down illegal gambling ads.
What applies now (2026)
As of October 2026:
- Minimum age: 18 under OUG 77/2009. Admitting minors remains heavily sanctioned; see enforcement of the ban on minors.
- Online advertising: lawful for licensed operators, subject to OUG 77/2009 and the 5% contribution on the value of advertising contracts. Promoting unlicensed gambling is a contravention fined RON 50,000–100,000.
- Audiovisual advertising: restricted to the CNA broadcast window, with the ban on public figures and online personalities in force since 6 October 2025.
- The two bills: passed by the Senate, pending in the Chamber of Deputies. If adopted, they need promulgation and publication in Monitorul Oficial before they apply, and the final text may differ from the Senate version.
- Land-based: separately, OUG 7/2026 now lets local councils ban or restrict gambling halls in their area.
What smart operators should do next
- Design age gates and KYC so the threshold can move from 18 to 21 by configuration, not a rebuild.
- Inventory creatives that use celebrities, athletes, streamers or creators, and retire any that fall under the CNA rule now.
- Map media schedules to see how much spend runs between 06:00 and 24:00.
- Review affiliate contracts for license, age-targeting and takedown warranties. Affiliates promoting to Romanian players need a Class 2 license; see our analysis of the Class 2 affiliate license.
- Document responsible-gambling controls. Regulators increasingly ask for evidence, not policies.
Conclusion
The bills may still change in the Chamber of Deputies, and they may stall there for some time. The direction is clear either way.
The Senate vote does not kill the Romanian market, but it shows that growth built on youth exposure and influencer persuasion has no political support left. Operators holding a Class 1 license should treat 2026 as the year to make their marketing and onboarding compliant with the stricter regime before it arrives. Our compliance team runs advertising and onboarding reviews for Romanian licensees.