Romanian B2B Gambling License

The Romanian B2B Gambling License (class 2) allows suppliers and distributors to provide operators with gambling solutions, platform management, hosting facilities, payment processing, and affiliate marketing services in the regulated Romanian market. This license is mandatory for legal entities involved in the field of traditional and remote gambling, as well as for conformity assessment bodies.

Romanian Gambling Legislation

The Romanian legislation which impacts upon gambling activities comprises the following main normative acts:

• Government Emergency Ordinance no. 77/2009 on the organization and operation of games of chance (“GEO no. 77/2009”);
• Government Decision no. 111/2016 for the approval of the Methodological Norms for implementation of GEO no. 77/2009 (the “Secondary Legislation”);
• Government Emergency Ordinance no. 20/2013 on the organization and functioning of the National Gambling Office and for the modification and supplementation of GEO no. 77/2009;
• Government Decision no. 298/2013 on the organization and functioning of the National Gambling Office;
• Law no. 227/2015 regarding the Fiscal Code (“Romanian Fiscal Code”);
• Law no. 207/2015 on the Fiscal Procedure Code;
• The order issued by the President of the National Gambling Office no. 47/2016 for the approval of content, reports, and access to information transmitted by remote gambling operators to the National Gambling Office, as further amended and supplemented;
• The order issued by the President of the National Gambling Office no. 48/2016 for the approval of the procedure for fulfilling the conditions for connecting land-based slot machines and betting-type games of chance;
• The order issued by the President of the National Gambling Office no. 93/2016 for the approval of the mandatory requirements for certification and audit of the remote gambling systems;
• The order issued by the President of the National Gambling Office no. 89/2018 regarding the unitary interpretation of the provisions of point 7 of the Annex to Order no. 48/2016 for the approval of the procedure for fulfilling the conditions for connecting land-based slot machines and betting-type games of chance;
• The order issued by the President of the National Gambling Office no. 179/2018 regarding the approval of the model of monthly declaration as a standard form for the revenues realized by the gambling operators which carry out gambling activities according to art. 10 para. (1) of GEO no. 77/2009;
• Government Emergency Ordinance no. 114/2018 on the establishment of measures in the field of public investments and fiscal-budgetary measures, for the modification and completion of certain normative acts and for the extension of certain deadlines (“GEO no. 114/2018”);
• The order issued by the President of the National Gambling Office no. 38/2019 for the approval of the method of calculation of the monthly tax provided by art. 53 of GEO no. 114/2018, and for the modification of Annex no. 8 to Order no. 179/2018 issued by the President of the National Gambling Office;
• The order issued by the President of the National Gambling Office no. 400/2019 for the approval of the draft decision regarding the accessory budgetary obligations representing interest and penalties for delay, the procedure regarding the notification of economic operators – licensed gambling organizers and the draft of the payment notification for the annual contribution provided by art. 10 para. (4) of Government Emergency Ordinance no. 77/2009 on the organization and operation of games of chance, further amended through Order no. 434/2019;
• Law no. 129/2019 for preventing and combatting money laundering and terrorist financing, as well as for modifying and completing normative acts;
• The decision issued by the National Audiovisual Council no. 614 of 11 June 2019 for amending and completing Decision no. 220/2011 regarding the Code of Regulation of Audiovisual Content;
• The order issued by the President of the National Gambling Office no. 404/2020 for the approval of the Minimum technical conditions for verification of the gambling means, amended and supplemented through Order no. 86/2021; and
• Government Emergency Ordinance no. 48/2020 regarding certain financial-fiscal measures.

Romanian B2B Gambling License Process

The class 2 license is a type of license introduced in gambling legislation and is mandatory for legal entities involved in the field of traditional and remote gambling, as well as for conformity assessment bodies.

The categories of B2B suppliers for which the National Gambling Office has issued Class 2 licenses are the following:

• manufacturers, distributors as well as other entities performing activities with gaming means or gaming components (note: this type of Class 2 license is relevant for the land-based sector);
• software providers;
• providers of platform management and hosting services/data centers;
• providers of live casino streaming services;
• certification laboratories, auditors, and conformity assessment bodies;
• payment processors; and
• marketing affiliates.

The list of licensed B2B providers holding a Class 2 license is listed here.

We mention below some peculiarities of this type of license:

• is granted upon request starting with the 1st of the following month after the approval of the documentation and after the payment
• it is valid for 10 years from the moment it is granted, provided that the tax is paid every year
• the fee is 6000 euro/year
• In order to obtain a class 2 license, economic operators must meet several conditions, among which: to be authorized, according to law, to carry out the economic activity for which they apply for the license, to have the necessary means and personnel necessary to carry out the activity. that they have no debts to the state budget, the administrators and associates have not been convicted by a final conviction decision for which the rehabilitation did not intervene and not to be in a state of incompatibility, according to the law.

Licensing conditions depending on the type of related activity offered by economic operators in the field of gambling in Romania

1. economic operators, which offer management and hosting facilities on the gaming platform will prove the ownership or use of the computer platform/hosting space of the specific gambling servers, will make declarations of conformity of the services they can provide in the field of gambling;
2. economic operators carrying out production, distribution activities, including those that offer programs/devices for the conduct or management of gambling activity, repair, and maintenance service providers for gambling, import, export, intra-community acquisition, intra-community delivery, or other activities with components or means of play will submit declarations of conformity of the products and services offered by the economic operator and the criminal record certificates of the economic operator and of his legal representatives.
3. the payment processors will present the authorization documents as a payment institution and the criminal record certificates of the economic operator and of its legal representatives.
4. the companies producing and/or distributing software specialized in the field of gambling, as well as the companies that transmit images with gambling characteristics of casinos, will present the documents attesting to the copyright/distribution right of the specific computer program, the legal representatives will submit declarations of conformity of the products and services offered and the criminal record certificates of the economic operator and its legal representatives.
5. the affiliated persons will submit a description of the activity carried out, as well as the internet domains on which they will operate and the criminal record certificates of the economic operator and of its legal representatives.
6. the certifiers will prove that they have at least one of the ISO accreditations: ISO 17025, ISO 17020 and are not in an interdependent relationship with a gambling organizer, likely to prevent the activity;
7. the auditors will prove that they have at least one of the following ISO certifications: ISO 17025 or ISO 17020 and that they have qualified personnel in attesting an ISO 27001 or equivalent security standard and that they are not in an interdependent relationship with a gambling organizer, likely to impede the conduct of business;
8. the conformity assessment bodies shall prove that they have at least one of the following ISO certifications: ISO 17025, ISO 17020, and that the economic operator is not in an interdependent relationship with a gambling organizer, likely to prevent the activity.