Romania’s gambling trade body has called for government protection of land-based business facing the prospect of a licensing limbo.
FEDBET, which represents 90% of the gambling market, argues that Emergency Government Ordinance (OUG) 7/2026 has placed Romania’s physical gambling businesses in a very difficult spot.
According to FEDBET, around 8,500 jobs have been affected because of the OUG since February. Furthermore, FEDBET highlighted that individual slot machine licenses have dropped from 43,306 in March to 15,462 by 1 November – corresponding to official ONJN data.
A FEDBET spokesperson told SBC News that much of that net decrease is directly attributable to local authorities failing to adopt the required decisions, rather than for other commercial or regulatory reasons.
FEDBET responded: “Based on the information available to FEDBET and the feedback from our members, we believe that the entire decrease between March and November is attributable to the regulatory uncertainty and the failure of local authorities to adopt the decisions required under OUG No. 7/2026.
“While we cannot provide a 100% verified, machine-by-machine assessment of the reasons behind each withdrawal, FEDBET represents approximately 90% of the Romanian gambling market, and we are not aware of cases among our members where machines were withdrawn for other commercial or regulatory reasons.”
Tough times for Romania’s gambling market
Introduced in February 2026, the OUG was a landmark legislation which transferred the supervisory duties over land-based casinos from the regulator, ONJN, to local authorities.
By changing the regulatory landscape from a centralised control into a fragmented reality, the measure gained attention due to the potential fallout of operators losing full access to certain markets, putting uncertainty on investments and planning into physical establishments.
The measure has piled pressure on Romania’s already strained casino sector.
In July, the county of Iași became the first to proceed with a full ban on land-based venues that host slot machines. Prohibitions then followed across the counties of Bacău, Sibiu, Brăila, and the cities of Slatina and Zalău.
Romanian gambling multinational Super Technologies recently came out in support of its workforce, reaffirming its commitment to keep its staff employed and premises open by repurposing Superbet venues affected by the bans.
