ROMANIA
GEANINA OPRIȚA Senior Associate
Deputies, as decisional forum. This draft law also tightens the sanctioning regime as, in addition to fines, failure to comply with the ban restrictions may constitute, depending on the consequences, grounds for revoking the license. For a second offence, a sanction of temporary suspension of activity may also be applicable for any liable person. Conclusion Although the enacting in Romania of new restrictions on gambling advertising appears to be an inevitability, now more than ever, a cohesive set of provisions in this sense is
still being sought. The Romanian legislator is attempting to find a balance between the need to control the gambling advertising phenomenon and the possible negative impact that such restrictions may have on the regulated gambling industry. While it may be difficult to envision the final form of the legislative proposal that will be adopted by the Romanian Parliament and also to estimate the timeframe, taking into consideration the high interest the public opinion has taken on the subject hand in hand with the political pressure, changes are expected to materialize in the near future.
COSMINA SIMION Partner
Simion & Baciu, Romania For information contact +40-31 437 80 13 cosmina.simion@simionbaciu.ro
Meanwhile in Hungary...
ROMANIA’S NEIGHBOURS HAVE BEEN IMPLEMENTING AMENDMENTS TO THE GAMBLING ACT OF 1991
The Supervisory Authority for Regulatory Affairs (SZTFH) is implementing some “technical measures and reforms’ in the hopes of ending Hungary’s sports-betting state monopoly. The service, run by Szerencsejáték Zrt, will be replaced by a competitive licensing process in moves also aimed at protecting consumers in a re-regulated gambling industry. The regulatory amendments are the latest addition to a process that began in 2017 when the European Union’s Court of Justice ruled Hungary’s original gambling act as unlawful. New legislation was introduced in February 2022 and further amendments came into effect on January 1st, 2023. In exchange for a HUF10m application fee and a licensing fee of HUF600m operators may obtain a license from SZTFH if they have at least 5 years experience offering online gaming services in the European Economic Area. Any operator that has been involved in the broadcasting of unlicensed gaming within 5 years of the application date will not qualify. Additionally, there is a supervision fee of 2.5 percent (up to a maximum of
HUF10m) and a gaming tax of 15 percent of gross gambling revenue. The new rules bring some technical changes, such as allowing players to participate using multiple balances with the same operator, as well as the ability to cash out early in applicable circumstances. This will be subject to the same laws governing the payment of winnings. It will be mandatory for licensed operators to explicitly inform players about the increased risk of excessive gambling along with addiction that has been linked to the early cash-out feature. The communication related to this message must be explicit and prominent on all promotional texts and on the respective gambling websites. To date, Szerencsejáték Zrt is the only operator to have been granted a licence. Three land-based casinos have also received approval but no other online retailers. Thus it is too early to establish whether these amendments will alter the gambling industry landscape in Hungary or just re-configure the same components.
PAGE 36
IMGL MAGAZINE | APRIL 2023
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker