Gambling License in Romania
Costs, Requirements and the ONJN Process
The 2026 guide with the numbers other guides leave out — what Law 141/2025 changed on 1 August 2025, what a licence actually costs, and where applications go wrong in practice.
Romania Remote Gambling License
A Supervisory Committee within the ONJN is assessing the applications and granting the particular licenses/authorizations required by the law.
To offer gambling in Romania you need a Class 1 license from the National Gambling Office (ONJN), plus an annual authorization for each activity. For online operators, the real numbers in 2026 are: a flat annual license fee of EUR 300,000, an annual authorization tax of 30% of gross gaming revenue (minimum EUR 480,000), and a EUR 500,000 annual responsible gambling contribution. Add EUR 3,500 for file analysis and EUR 10,500 for issuance. A complete file is normally decided within about 30 days, effective the first day of the following month. B2B suppliers need a Class 2 license at EUR 20,000 per year and a EUR 15,000 annual responsible gambling contribution.
Those figures are the reason this guide exists. Most articles about Romanian gambling licensing describe the legal framework in general terms and stop before the part that actually determines whether the project is viable: what it costs, what changed on 1 August 2025, and where the process goes wrong in practice. We prepare and file ONJN applications for a living, so this guide covers both.
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Is gambling legal in Romania?
Yes. Every major vertical — land-based casinos, betting shops, slot halls, bingo, poker, and online casino, betting and poker — is legal for private operators, provided the operator holds an ONJN licence and the corresponding authorisation. The single carve-out is lottery: lottery games, including online lottery, remain a state monopoly held by Loteria Română under a Class 3 licence that is not available to private investors.
Romania regulated its online market in 2015, earlier and more cleanly than most of Central and Eastern Europe. The result is a mature, well-supervised market with a large licensed operator base — and, since 2023, a legislature that has been steadily raising the price of admission. If you last looked at Romanian licensing costs before August 2025, your numbers are wrong. More on that below.
The legal framework
Three layers matter:
- Government Emergency Ordinance no. 77/2009 (GEO 77/2009) — the primary gambling law, defining games of chance, licence classes, prohibitions and sanctions.
- Government Decision no. 111/2016 — the methodological norms implementing GEO 77/2009, where most of the procedural detail lives: documentation lists, technical requirements, authorisation mechanics.
- ONJN President’s Orders — secondary regulation on technical standards, reporting, and player protection, including Order no. 79/2025 on the national self-exclusion procedure.
The framework has been amended heavily in the last three years. GEO 82/2023 (approved with changes by Law 107/2024) tightened establishment requirements and restructured several fees. Law 141/2025, in force since 1 August 2025, rewrote the fiscal side of the industry — this is the amendment that moved the online authorization tax from 21% to 30% of GGR and replaced the old turnover-tiered license fee with a flat EUR 300,000. Further amendments to the gambling law are under political discussion in 2026, so any operator budgeting a Romanian entry should build in regulatory headroom and confirm figures at filing date.
We can help you incorporate and obtain the Class 1 (B2C) Romania Gaming License
ONJN: the regulator you will be dealing with
The Oficiul Național pentru Jocuri de Noroc (ONJN) is the licensing authority, the supervisor and the enforcer, all in one body subordinated to the Ministry of Finance. Its Supervisory Committee decides licence applications — in practice it convenes roughly twice a month — and its President issues the secondary regulation that governs day-to-day compliance.
ONJN’s enforcement toolkit is broad: inspections, fines, licence suspension and revocation, and a public blacklist of unlicensed gambling domains that Romanian ISPs are legally required to block. The blacklist currently runs to well over 1,500 domains, and since GEO 82/2023 it can also include brands, trademarks and logos of entities that operated in Romania without paying licence fees. Payment blocking and advertising takedowns complete the picture. Romania takes channelization seriously, which is precisely what makes the licence valuable: licensed operators compete in a market where the illegal alternative is genuinely hard to reach.
Class 1 vs Class 2: which license do you need?
| Class 1 (B2C) | Class 2 (B2B) | |
| Who needs it | Operators offering games to players: online casino/betting/poker, land-based casinos, betting shops, slot halls, bingo, poker clubs | Suppliers to the industry: game/software developers, platform providers, hosting and data centers, payment processors, live casino studios, certification labs and auditors, marketing affiliates |
| Validity | 10 years | 10 years |
| Annual license fee | €300,000 online (flat) · €15,000–200,000 land-based | €20,000 |
| Also required | Annual authorization per activity/platform, paid as a GGR-based tax | No authorization; ongoing reporting and compliance duties instead |
Two points that trip people up:
A Class 1 licence alone does not let you operate. You also need the authorisation, which is the annual permit tied to the actual gambling activity. Online, one authorisation covers the whole platform; land-based, authorisations attach to locations or equipment (per slot machine, per casino hall). Licence and authorisation are usually applied for together and approved in the same session, but they are legally distinct and renew on different logic.
The Class 2 net is wider than most suppliers expect. If your company provides any critical service to a Romanian-licensed operator — games, platform, hosting, payments, affiliate traffic, certification — you need your own Class 2 license. Operators are prohibited from using unlicensed suppliers, and since GEO 82/2023, B2B providers carry their own duties, including blocking Romanian player access to unlicensed operators and reporting monthly to ONJN.
What a Romanian gambling license actually costs in 2026
This is the section the competing guides skip. Figures below are for an online B2C operator; land-based costs vary by activity and venue count.
| Cost Item | Amount | When |
| File analysis fee | €3,500 | At submission, non-refundable |
| License issuance fee | €10,500 | One-time, at issuance |
| Annual license fee (online B2C) | €300,000 | Annual, flat |
| Annual authorization tax (online) | 30% of GGR · min €480,000 | Annual, from 1 Aug 2025 |
| Responsible gambling contribution (online B2C) | €500,000 | Annual |
| Class 2 license (if you are a supplier) | €20,000 | Annual |
| Responsible gambling contribution (online B2B) | €15,000 | Annual |
| Compliance operations (certifications, AML tooling, RG systems, audit prep) | €20,000–40,000+ | Annual, ongoing |
Beyond fees, budget for the balance-sheet items: minimum share capital (set by activity type, materially higher for online operators than for a standard SRL) and the financial guarantee securing obligations to the state budget, both of which were tightened by the recent amendments. These amounts are committed rather than spent, but your treasury needs to plan for them.
PRACTITIONER’S NOTE
A lean online operator is looking at roughly EUR 800,000+ per year in fixed regulatory cost before the 30% GGR tax bites on revenue above the minimum. Romania stopped being a cheap licence in August 2025. It remains a valuable one — a regulated EU market of 19 million people with strong enforcement against unlicensed competition — but the business case now favors operators with real scale or a credible plan to reach it.
Requirements: who can apply
Corporate establishment
The license is available to companies registered in Romania, or to EU/EEA/Swiss entities with a registered permanent establishment in Romania. In practice, nearly all applicants incorporate a Romanian SRL or SA. Shareholding can be 100% foreign; there are no nationality restrictions.
Fit and proper
Full disclosure of the ownership chain up to ultimate beneficial owners, criminal record certificates for shareholders and directors, and evidence of good standing. ONJN reviews prior regulatory history — an operator that served Romanian players without a licence before applying should expect that history to surface in the review.
Financial soundness
Financial statements or opening balance, proof of paid-up capital at the statutory minimum, fiscal certificates showing no debts to the Romanian state, and the guarantee securing tax obligations. The applicant must demonstrate capacity to pay both taxes and player winnings.
Technical file
Platform architecture, RNG and game certifications from ONJN-recognised labs, real-time data access for the regulator and, for online operators, the mirror server located in Romania that records transactions for monitoring. Contracts with Class 2-licensed suppliers for every critical service must be in the file — this is a common gap in first submissions, because suppliers’ own licences are sometimes still pending.
Policies
AML procedures under Law 129/2019 and the gambling-sector AML norms (in force since 2022), an appointed AML officer, responsible gambling procedures, and GDPR-compliant data protection. Everything submitted in Romanian, with certified translations of foreign documents.
The licensing process, step by step
The process is structured and predictable when the documentation package is complete. Below is a realistic timeline based on standard ONJN processing. Obtaining a Romanian Class 2 (B2B) gambling license is a structured but documentation-intensive process managed by ONJN. Here is how we guide clients through every stage.
Step 1: Incorporate or establish the Romanian presence.
Allow 1–2 weeks for a clean SRL incorporation, longer if the capital structure or foreign corporate shareholders add notarial and translation steps.
Step 2: Assemble the file.
This is where the timeline is actually decided. A complete technical and corporate dossier for an online operator typically takes 4–8 weeks to build, driven mostly by certification lead times and Class 2 supplier contracting.
Step 3: Submit to ONJN and pay the analysis fee.
The Supervisory Committee reviews complete files at its sessions, held roughly twice monthly.
Step 4: Respond to clarification requests.
ONJN routinely asks for supplements. Fast, precise responses keep you in the current review cycle; slow ones push you to the next.
Step 5: Approval and issuance.
For most activities the decision is made on the papers. Land-based casinos, poker clubs and bingo halls additionally require a prior on-site inspection by ONJN and police representatives. A complete file is normally decided within about 30 days, and the license takes effect on the first day of the month following approval, conditional on payment of the license fee. The granting order is published on ONJN’s website.
Step 6: Authorization and go-live.
The authorization certificate is valid for one year and renews on payment of the annual tax. Online operators must complete integration with ONJN’s monitoring systems and the self-exclusion registry before accepting players.
Realistic end-to-end timeline for an online operator starting from zero: 3 to 4 months, of which the regulator’s decision is the shortest part. The file preparation is the schedule.
Online-specific obligations
Online licensees carry a set of duties that land-based operators do not:
- Mirror server in Romania, recording all transactions for ONJN’s monitoring interface.
- Class 2-licensed suppliers only for platform, hosting, payments, games and affiliate marketing.
- Real-time integration with the national self-exclusion registry — account opening must check the registry before activation.
- Player winnings withholding. Operators withhold tax on player winnings at progressive rates — currently 4% on smaller winnings, rising through 20% to 40% at the top bracket — and remit it to ANAF. Your payment and wallet systems must handle this at payout, not as an afterthought.
Advertising, responsible gambling and self-exclusion
Advertising is legal for licensed operators but tightly boxed in: no targeting of minors, no broadcast advertising in daytime slots, no outdoor advertising near schools, playgrounds and places of worship, mandatory responsible gambling messaging, and no promotion of bonuses in public media outside the operator’s own channels. Sponsorship (sports teams, events) remains permitted and widely used. Advertising an unlicensed operator is itself an offence, and ONJN has extended blacklisting to the brands and marks of unlicensed actors — affiliates should read that twice.
The structural change of 2025 was Order no. 79/2025, which created the national self-exclusion registry held by ONJN. Before, each operator maintained its own exclusion list; now a single request — filed with ONJN directly, electronically with a qualified signature, or through any licensed operator, who must forward it — bars the person from every licensed venue and platform in Romania. Operators have real-time access to the registry and an absolute obligation to deny access to listed persons. For licence applicants, this means registry integration is a pre-launch technical requirement, and staff training on exclusion handling is an inspection item.
Online B2C operators also fund the prevention side directly through the EUR 500,000 annual responsible gambling contribution administered alongside ONJN.
What changed, and what may change next
A compressed history for anyone returning to Romania after a few years away:
- GEO 82/2023 / Law 107/2024: offshore-friendly structures closed (permanent establishment required), Class 2 duties expanded, blacklisting broadened, responsible gambling contributions introduced at scale.
- Order 79/2025 (June 2025): national self-exclusion registry.
- Law 141/2025 (1 August 2025): online authorization tax 21% → 30% of GGR; minimum authorization tax EUR 400,000 → EUR 480,000; flat EUR 300,000 annual license fee replacing the old turnover tiers (EUR 15,600–312,000); winnings tax brackets raised; the self-exclusion registry moved formally to ONJN with real-time operator access.
In 2026, a broader rewrite of the gambling law remains on the political agenda, with proposals ranging from institutional reorganisation of the regulator to a higher minimum gambling age. None of this is enacted at the time of writing, and existing licensees continue operating normally — but an applicant filing this year should have counsel monitoring the parliamentary track, because transition provisions in Romanian gambling amendments have historically been short.
Is the Romanian license worth it in 2026?
For the right operator, yes. The case for Romania: a regulated market with real enforcement against unlicensed competition, EU legal certainty, an established payments and supplier ecosystem, and a player base that has been growing since 2015. The case against: fixed regulatory costs now approaching EUR 1 million per year for online B2C, a 30% GGR tax at the high end of the EU range, and legislative volatility that demands active monitoring rather than set-and-forget compliance.
The honest advice we give clients: Romania no longer rewards opportunistic entry. It rewards operators who model the 30% tax against their actual product margins before committing, who build the compliance file properly the first time, and who treat ONJN as a long-term regulatory relationship rather than a gate to get through.
Romania Gambling License — FAQs
For an online B2C operator in 2026: EUR 3,500 file analysis fee, EUR 10,500 issuance fee, EUR 300,000 flat annual license fee, an annual authorization tax of 30% of GGR (minimum EUR 480,000), and a EUR 500,000 annual responsible gambling contribution. A Class 2 supplier license costs EUR 20,000 per year. Land-based license fees range from EUR 15,000 to EUR 200,000 depending on the activity.
ONJN normally decides a complete file within about 30 days, with the license effective on the first day of the following month. Realistically, plan 3–4 months end to end, because assembling the corporate, financial and technical file — certifications, Class 2 supplier contracts, translations — takes longer than the regulator’s review.
Yes. The applicant must be a company registered in Romania or an EU/EEA/Swiss entity with a registered permanent establishment in Romania. Shareholders can be 100% foreign. Most international operators incorporate a Romanian SRL as the license holder.
Class 1 is the B2C operator license for anyone offering games to players, online or land-based, and must be paired with annual authorizations. Class 2 is the B2B license for suppliers — software and game developers, platform and hosting providers, payment processors, live casino studios, certification labs and affiliates. Licensed operators may only use Class 2-licensed suppliers.
Since 1 August 2025 (Law 141/2025), online operators pay an annual authorization tax of 30% of gross gaming revenue, with a minimum of EUR 480,000. Operators also withhold tax on player winnings at progressive rates starting at 4%. Land-based authorization taxes vary by activity type.
Yes. Software developers, platform providers, hosting services, payment processors, certification labs and marketing affiliates all need a Class 2 license (EUR 20,000 per year) to service Romanian-licensed operators.
Yes. Online casino, sports betting and poker are legal when offered by an ONJN-licensed operator. Unlicensed sites are blacklisted and blocked at ISP level — the blacklist currently exceeds 1,500 domains. Only lottery games remain a state monopoly.
Contact Szilaghi Consulting to Get Your Romanian Gambling License
Since 2004, Szilaghi Consulting has been working with startups, entrepreneurs, and companies already established for online gambling. We have worked all over the world, but we have a special and extensive practice in Romania. During this time, we gained a deep knowledge of the requirements and general obligations of the process of incorporating the company and obtaining a license for gambling in Romania. We have established relationships with industry stakeholders, including authorities, service providers, and other gaming companies. This positions us as market leaders in assisting our customers with Romania licensing goals.
Through our extensive and carefully verified network of contacts in the country, we can ensure that you move efficiently through the entire setup process. We know everything you need to know about requirements, criteria, nuances, and possible obstacles and can help you prevent and navigate whatever comes your way.
To incorporate the company and apply for a gambling license in Romania or just to discuss your plan, vision or options, contact Szilaghi Consulting today.
