An affiliate that promotes gambling to players in Romania needs an ONJN Class 2 license under OUG 77/2009. It costs €10,500 once, then a €20,000 license fee and a €15,000 responsible-gambling contribution every year: €35,000 a year, fixed, whatever the commission income. The license runs for 10 years, provided the fees are paid on time. That price is the filter: Romania treats affiliates as part of the regulated supply chain, not as anonymous traffic brokers. The full supplier route is on our Class 2 (B2B) license page. Bulgaria chose the opposite model in 2026, a low fixed fee plus 10% of commission; our Bulgaria vs Romania affiliate license comparison shows where the break-even sits.
The legal framework in one minute
- OUG 77/2009 sets the license classes and the fee annex.
- HG 111/2016, the methodological norms, sets how a Class 2 file is built, approved and paid.
- OUG 82/2023 raised the Class 2 annual fee to €20,000 and the responsible-gambling contribution to €15,000.
- Law 141/2025 barred Class 2 holders from serving domains on the ONJN blacklist and made revocation the sanction.
- ONJN issues the license and supervises it.
What a Class 2 affiliate license is
Class 2 covers activities connected to gambling: software, platforms, payments, hosting, testing and marketing. Affiliates are one of the Class 2 categories. The license covers the activity, so one affiliate license covers all the sites and channels you declare. A Class 1 operator may only work with Class 2-licensed suppliers, so an unlicensed affiliate is also a liability on its operator partners’ books.
Costs: the numbers that matter
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Issuance fee (one-off) | €10,500 |
| Annual license fee | €20,000 |
| Annual responsible-gambling contribution | €15,000 |
| Year 1 total | €45,500 |
| Year 2 onward | €35,000 a year |
| GGR tax, guarantee | None |
Two sets of figures confuse people. The first is the pre-2023 schedule: €6,000 for affiliates and a €1,000 contribution. Both were replaced by OUG 82/2023, and some websites still quote them. The second is Class 1 pricing, such as the €3,500 file-analysis fee, the €480,000 minimum authorization fee and the guarantees. None of these apply to a Class 2 affiliate.
Is €35,000 a year worth it?
It depends on Romanian revenue. An affiliate earning €150,000 a year in Romanian commission spends about 23% of it on statutory fees in year two; one earning €500,000 spends 7%. Below roughly €100,000 of Romanian commission, the license is hard to justify on Romania alone, and the realistic options are to stop targeting Romania or to grow into it. Two things change the math in the license’s favor:
- Operator demand. Romanian Class 1 operators cannot lawfully pay an unlicensed affiliate, so the license is the price of access to the whole licensed market, not to one partner.
- Partner diligence elsewhere. Regulated operators and payment providers in other markets read an EU-regulated license as evidence of governance, which shortens onboarding.
For comparison, a Class 1 online operator’s fixed floor is €1,280,000 a year before any revenue. The affiliate license is the cheapest seat in the Romanian regulated market.
Validity and when the license starts
The license is valid for 10 years, conditional on paying each year’s fees on time. Under the norms, it takes effect on the first day of the month after the month in which the first-year fee is paid following ONJN’s approval. Later years are paid in advance, at least 10 days before the current year ends.
The deadline that breaks applications
The first-year license fee is due by the 25th of the month following the month in which ONJN approves the file. If it is not paid by then, the approval lapses without further formality, and you start again. There is no grace period.
The practical fix is to arrange the payment before you file: board approval for the spend, a funded account able to send EUR, and someone who can execute the transfer the day ONJN’s decision arrives.
Step by step: how to secure the license
Step 1. Confirm you need it
If you publish Romanian-language content, target Romanian users or earn commission on Romanian players, assume ONJN expects a Class 2 license. A site that happens to receive some Romanian traffic but promotes only brands that block Romania is a different case; get advice before you rely on that.
Step 2. Build the dossier as if it will be audited
The typical file includes:
- the standard application in Romanian, signed by the legal representative;
- an inventory of documents;
- trade-register certificate and extract, or foreign equivalents;
- articles of association;
- criminal-record certificates for each legal representative;
- a description of the activity and the internet domains to be operated;
- affiliation contracts with licensed operators, where they exist.
Foreign documents need certified Romanian translation and an apostille.
Step 3. Declare every domain and channel
Declare all domains consistently: review sites, content hubs, paid-media landing pages, subdomains and tracking domains. A domain that appears in your traffic but not in your file is the first thing a later ONJN check will find.
What licensed operators will ask you for
Once licensed, expect your Class 1 partners to run their own checks before they pay commission. A typical request covers:
- your ONJN license number and register entry;
- the list of domains and channels you will use for their brand;
- confirmation that you do not promote unlicensed brands to Romanian players;
- your responsible-gambling and age-gating approach, including how you exclude minors from targeting;
- beneficial-ownership information for their own AML file under Law 129/2019.
Having this pack ready speeds onboarding with every operator, not just the first.
Step 4. File, then switch to payment readiness
Approval is a countdown to the 25th. Track the decision daily and pay as soon as it arrives.
Step 5. Build compliance into operations
- Promote only brands licensed as Class 1 in Romania.
- Never send Romanian players to a domain on the ONJN blacklist; since Law 141/2025, serving a blacklisted domain can cost the license.
- Notify changes in shareholders, directors, registered office or share capital under ONJN Order 33/2025.
- Follow Romania’s advertising limits; a bill passed by the Senate in February 2026 would ban daytime online gambling ads and ads with well-known personalities, as covered in 21+ access and an online ad blackout.
International relevance: does the license travel?
What it does
It shows operators, B2B partners and payment providers that you have passed an EU regulator’s checks and can meet strict deadlines. Many regulated operators ask for it before they sign, including for markets outside Romania.
What it does not do
It gives no right to market gambling in other EU states. Online gambling is regulated nationally, and each member state may restrict cross-border offers on public-interest grounds. Think of it as a quality certificate, not a passport. Compare other markets on our jurisdictions page.
Conclusion
€35,000 a year is a filter by design. It keeps out low-quality affiliate networks and rewards affiliates that operate as licensed partners. The applicants who fail usually do so on payment readiness, not on the dossier. For the older version of these rules, see our post on licensing conditions for B2B affiliate sites. To prepare a file that ONJN will approve, contact us.