An audit reported that Romania’s gambling regulator, ONJN, collected fees from operators without verifying their activity reports. As a result, the state may have lost significant revenue.
A damning audit by the Court of Accounts of Romania has said the ONJN or National Gambling Office failed to effectively monitor online gambling operations since its founding. This potentially costs the state budget billions of RON or Romanian lei in unpaid fees.
The Court of Accounts shared the audit report on February 21. It revealed that online gambling in Romania has operated without proper supervision. This allows operators to potentially underreport earnings, as well as avoid paying the full authorization fees required by law.
The court stated that since its establishment, the ONJN has never monitored or controlled remote or online gambling organizers. It has also failed to fulfill its legal duties.
The Court of Accounts found that ONJN failed to implement basic monitoring systems required by Romanian law. This includes secure terminals that would let regulators uninterrupted access to the servers of the gambling operators located in Romania.
The office was unable to verify the accuracy of reports submitted by gambling companies without this access.
Auditors discovered discrepancies of nearly RON 79 million or €16 million in undeclared and unpaid authorization feed for 2022-2023 alone.
The total reaches over RON 116 million when penalties and interest are included. Yet, the report indicates this may represent just the tip of the iceberg.
Most Romanian-facing online gambling operators are registered in Malta. It reduced its minimum RTP or Return to Player requirement from 92% to 85%.
This created a potential loophole for operators to adjust payout percentages and boost their profits. At the same time, they could underreport earnings to Romanian authorities.
