ROMANIAN GAMBLING MARKET. “AGONY AND ECSTASY”. 424r
Motto: ”The Dunning-Kruger effect is an error of judgment in which incompetent people mistakenly assess their competence as being much higher than it really is. This behaviour is due to the inability of these individuals to recognize their own level, precisely because of a lack of domain knowledge”. 4d6g4c
by Lawyer Prof. Marius PANTEA, PhD 5h423z
by Lawyer Prof. Marius PANTEA, PhD
For the national gambling market, the last period of time has been a real test for most gambling operators. The legislative changes, their interpretations and the powerlessness of the authorities have turned this sector into a no man’s land. The managers of the licensed operators have been put in unbelievable, unreal, even hilarious situations, and the situations created are downright impossible.
The legislative changes made without any consultation with the business community are irrational and have created real chaos in the sector, putting operators in ‘serious’ situations. A well-known example is the restriction on the operation of slot-machines in towns with less than 15,000 inhabitants. Without commenting too much, let’s summarize: operators who have closed their premises (as a result of political and media pressure) still have to pay the licenses for gaming machines they cannot operate. Those who chose not to close their sites were sanctioned by the ONJN’s Supervisory Committee with the revocation of their license, a measure that has been suspended by some courts. And at the moment there are specialized venues open in istrative units with less than 15,000 inhabitants, which are operating until a final judgment on the merits. The conclusion: if you comply with the ONJN’s instructions, you have to pay the license fee even if you have no means and do not operate the means of gambling, and if you do not comply, you manage to operate in the above-mentioned locations, collect the fee and manage to survive until the final judgment of the courts.
And because that is not enough, there have appeared, as if out of nowhere, some interpretations of the control inspectors, on various situations, which seem to aim to confuse you for good. For example, there is an interpretation as to how many licensed gambling operators must operate in specialized locations. Thus it is opined that in betting agencies there can be a maximum of 5 licensed slot machine operators (i.e. one operator with one slot machine each), while ”in dedicated slot machine halls with a minimum of 20 slot machines in Bucharest or 12 in other locations” there must be only one operator. The interpretation goes further, disregarding the legal provisions and the ONJN’s practice of the last 10 years, and establishes that, in Bucharest, if there are 2 slot machine operators in the same lucrative facility (in a dedicated hall), each of them must meet the condition of minimum 20 machines per organizer (i.e. 2 operators 40 slot machines/room), and consequently the same rule applies to dedicated halls outside the capital (2 operators 24 slot machines/room, or 3 operators 36 machines, etc.). We are surprised by such interpretations of the legislation in force since 2014, after so much time, without taking into the approval given by the Supervisory Committee of the ONJN (which authorizes the gaming means at the licensed operators’ lucrative facilities), without noting the t venture legislation in GEO 77/2009 (which allows class I licensed operators to together). Moreover, the discrepancy can be observed, in betting agencies it is possible, but not in specialized halls.
Not to mention the situations in which electronic machines attributing winnings with limited risk are identified, which were eliminated from GEO 77/2009. The rule for their operation was not to be operated in specialized venues, but in bars or other places. With the ban on the consumption of alcoholic products in places where there is gambling, the interpretation of some of the inspectors is “fabulous”, namely to stop the sale of alcoholic products in bars where there are such means of gambling, otherwise the operator’s license will be revoked, given that the legal provision is clear and does not refer to electronic machines awarding limited risk winnings.
ROMANIAN GAMBLING MARKET
We hope that those who have proceeded to amend the legislation in the field of gambling, notice that from about 85,000 means of gambling, it has reached 60,000, and the budget revenues have decreased considerably (losses from license and authorization fee, taxes on salaries, rents, etc.), in this period when the budget deficit is huge, and maybe next time when they want structural changes in the field, they will ask the opinion of ONJN and the national gambling industry, so as not to repeat the mistakes made.
