“LEGAL FOLKLORE” AND GAMBLING IN ROMANIA IN 2024 2o6u46
by Lawyer Prof. Marius Pantea, PhD 113v3g
What was 2024? 5e3w
by Lawyer Prof. Marius Pantea, PhD 113v3g
Towards the end of 2023, far-reaching changes were introduced in the field ofgambling through the already famous GEO 82 / October 5, 2023, and during 2024, following the media scandals and electoral promises made by the rulers, 2 more legislative amendments appeared, at an interval of 2 months, namely Law 107 / April 17, 2024 and GEO 80 / June 28, 2024, which instead of clarifying and resolving the controversial issues, managed to effectively disrupt the entire national gambling market. 6h6x1i
In addition to the “taxes” newly introduced in 2023, such as tax increases, the introduction of exorbitant guarantees and other issues that we pointed out at the time, in 2024 the two normative acts (one from the Parliament and the other from the Government) put an end to the traditional games in our country through regulations of all embarrassment.
First of all it was forbidden to authorize (so it is written in the law) slot machine gambling in localities with less than 15,000 inhabitants. At the first meeting of the ONJN’s Advisory Council, it was communicated that the authorized means of gambling will remain in operation until the expiry of the issued authorizations, and then (in 1-2 days) a communiqué was published on the ONJN’s website, which was interpreted as a halt to the operation of all means of gambling.
The legislative changes have caused significant damage both to the consolidated state budget and to honest operators who were forced (as during the Pandemic) to pay authorization fees for the stored gambling means.
The number of gaming machines taken off the market in this way is approaching 30,000, and almost 400 firms have closed this year. The impact is major, and from a social point of view even more problems have arisen than those that already existed (jobs are disappearing and local budgets are being affected).
Last but not least we will refer to the ban on the consumption of alcoholic beverages in specialized gambling venues, a measure that has done nothing but to remove from the halls in front of them, people who, with bottle in hand, annoyed or happy, are noisy, disturbing ers-by and neighbors in the vicinity of the locations. This is certainly not what the legislator intended from the measure imposed, but because it failed to consult with industry it has had a different kind of effect than intended. The same thing will happen with the multiplication of gambling venues in towns and cities as a result of the ban on operating in towns with fewer than 15,000 inhabitants. And after that there was a real problem, now there will be a real suffocation of urban areas with gambling venues.
GAMBLING IN ROMANIA
Why? 2c4o5o
Because there is aggressive TV and street advertising.
Because the arcades are highlighted in the urban landscape by excessive lighting, display opulence and seem to be in most of the Romanian city centers present.
What will be 2025? 312v3s
There are several bills in various stages in the Parliament, some have ed the Senate, and in the Chamber of Deputies they are all more and more fanciful and harmful to the industry.
With the hope that with the new composition of the newly elected national Parliament, the “legal folklore” first practiced in the field of the gambling industry in our country will end, and then it will reach the highest legal forums in our country, and the new Government that will come and that understands the character of the gambling industry as an entertainment industry, will have to sit down at the table with the representatives of the industry to agree on applicable legal regulations that can be ed by the industry.
What can we do? 2r2s5b
Self-regulation of advertising through the Code of Ethics, which has been in the works for some time, will be a solution that the industry should voluntarily embrace, together with other actions to prevent addiction and prevent access to people who have become addicted, the urgent development and digitalization of the ONJN and the systems used in dealing with gambling operators and last but not least the launch of youth education programs to enable an understanding of the field and to place the industry in the entertainment category.
