Romania to Limit Gambling Spending to 10% of Monthly Income

Romania continues to attempt to counter problem gambling among its population in a new draft bill that has been sent for consideration to the country’s lawmakers.

The bill proposes that Romanians will be banned from spending more than 10% of their previous monthly income on gambling and betting.

Banks and financial institutions where players have individual accounts would be responsible for setting the spending limitations, and could be liable for fines up to 1% of their actual turnover should they fail to enforce the potential new rules.

Casino operators and other gambling premises would be responsible for enforcing the spending limit in physical buildings, although it is certainly not clear how that would operate in practicality.

It is also suggested that the ANAF (Agenția Națională de Administrare Fiscală) – Romania’s National Agency for Fiscal Administration, would be ordered to provide a platform that would allow licensed operators to query a player’s balance to check on the 10% limit.

Gambling operators would then have to report in real-time player spending in order that nobody would be able to game the system, simply by hopping quickly between establishments.

Failure to comply with these undertakings would result in a fine to the operator of between RON 200,000 and 500,000 (between $43,000 and $108,000) for a first offence. Meanwhile a second offence would also see the cancellation of the operator’s licence.

Romania has been trying hard in recent years to combat problem gambling within its boundaries. In October last year, it banned gambling venues in small towns and villages with populations of less than 15,000 people.