Romanian ONJN Advances Internal Controls Following Court of Auditors Assessment

Romania’s gambling authority, the ONJN, has made significant progress modernising its internal control mechanisms according to a report by the country’s Court of Auditors, as reported by SBC News.

The same auditing body had uncovered more than €900m in missing taxes from ONJN records at the start of 2025. That finding triggered the resignation of the prior president and the appointment of Vlad-Cristian Soare in May 2025. Soare has since prioritised transparency and operational effectiveness, with the Court’s 2025 review confirming visible results.

Operational Enhancements in Monitoring and Licensee Controls

Monitoring of monthly declarations from land-based operators was entirely absent in 2024. The ONJN has since reviewed declarations across the last five fiscal years, initiated recovery procedures for owed funds, and launched probes into suspected GGR manipulation by certain online operators.

Oversight of iGaming licensees, previously insufficient, has been strengthened through cooperation with Romania’s Digital Authority. The resulting real-time metadata analysis system flags suspicious transactions and financial discrepancies immediately. These steps address core weaknesses identified in the prior audit.

Legislative Limits and the Push for Responsible Gambling Reforms

The Responsible Gambling Promotion Service previously collected funds while recording no organised campaigns to address problem gambling. A new state programme now channels resources into prevention and treatment initiatives, with the first grant recipients set to receive €5m in total.

Soare has also coordinated the launch of a fully digital self-exclusion tool. Current legislation nonetheless restricts its deployment to land-based operators alone. The ONJN has proposed an Emergency Ordinance to accelerate necessary policy adjustments.

Soare stated: “We are not just talking about administrative responses to some findings, but about concrete changes: controls on the last five fiscal years, recovery of differences due, monitoring of online operators, combating the black market, financing addiction prevention and treatment programs and transforming self-exclusion into a functional and digitalized system. There are still things to be done, but the changes are visible, the problems are identified, the measures are underway, and the results can be verified. ONJN is in a broad process of transformation and re-credibility, but I assure you that there are also officials who are making great efforts to achieve our objectives.”

The developments restore a degree of regulatory credibility after last year’s failures. Operators will track whether the proposed ordinance delivers the legal framework required for consistent online controls and harm minimisation.

Reporting: SBC News

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