A trip to the land of Dracula, which in its progress of economic and industrial development also aims to public gaming, in a controlled and responsible market. Interesting, for Italy too.
It's been three years since gaming regulation with cash prizes in Romania, following the introduction of a national law that provided for the establishment of a public gaming sector and the assignment of this sector to a governmental control body: that is, the Oficiului Naţional pentru Jocuri de Noroc, better known as National Gambling Office (Ong). And today what could be considered an emerging market not so long ago, now can start talking about consolidation, taking a first stock, after an initial effort by the regulator and the industry for a path of progressive legalization and professionalization of the sector. Gioco News does it through an interview with Dan Iliovici, president of the Romanian regulator, which reveals a booming sector, but in the spirit of social responsibility.
About three years after the debut of gaming sector in Romania, what is your account of activities?
“First of all I would like to thank you for your initiative – to make an overview of the Romanian gambling market in Giocco News. Regarding your question – the gambling sector was present in Romania long before the new legislative framework came in force – during 2015–16 period. Just to mention very briefly, one major change is dated back in 2009, when the Emergency Government Ordinance no. 77 (OUG77) was first published. Although not perfect, it was the basis on which the change from 2015 was possible. The most important provision of the new regulatory framework from 2015 was about the online gambling industry. Before that there was no licensed online operator (for many reasons – an inapplicable law), and now we have 21 operators, a functional industry on all its aspects. I believe this is the most important achievement”.
Do you believe that the market still has growth prospects?
“Growth, Yes. But not only (or mostly), as number of active players, but in the number of online operators. For traditional land-based industry, we think more of a consolidation of the market. We also have strong expectations on the development of AWP market – the so called small risk, small stakes slot machines. We would like to see more and more of these machines replacing traditional slots, especially in small locations (bars)”.
Ngo has just released the gaming promotional communications code. What are the inspiring principles of this initiative and what do you expect from the implementation of this code?
“First of all I would like to make a very clear statement: advertising a legal activity is normal. Moreover, advertising legally licensed gambling activities is a very good way of player protection. Players are channeled to legal activities. But gambling has risks, gambling should not be aimed at children, underage and at-risk groups, gambling advertising should not be done in an aggressive manner. We did an extensive research of how other countries/jurisdictions are dealing with advertising in gambling. Basically there are two approaches: by force regulation, a law (or more) that impose strict rules, and what I would call the “soft approach”, a set of “rules”, that are not imposed, but operators are given the freedom to adopt (or not). We took the second approach. We believe this is more effective. Sociological studies indicated that this kind of self-regulation, free adoption of such CSR actions are better that something that is imposed by the authority. We expect cooperation, suggestions, feedback from the gambling industry, to improve this code, to make it an industry wide standard. We are considering to publish a list of companies that freely accept the code and put it in practice / obey. The Ethical code is not mandatory. There are no negative consequences if a company does not what they should do according to this code. This is a strong message that things have to change in the way that gambling industry is doing advertising – public communication”.
What will be the next steps in the near/far future about this?
“We will see. But I must tell you that the regulator will not stand without doing something. Our actions will be adjusted to the response of the gambling market, of the society, of mass-media”.
What are current dimensions of gaming sector in Romania (between physical and online, in terms of active games and number of operators/licenses)?
“There are 356 traditional gambling operators: slot-machines, sports betting, bingo, casino, poker, and there are 21 online operators”.
Which games are currently allowed in Romania and which are coming?
“As mentioned, there is a full range of games of chance which are legally licensed: AWP’s, slots, poker, betting shops, casinos, bingo. There is no limit in the number of issued licenses. We also have the National Lottery, which operates VLT’s, and has exclusiveness on lottery games: scratch cards, lottery (6/49) etc. There are approx. 68.000 slots on the market, 3-4.000 AWP’s, 5-6.000 Vlt’s. Four life casinos, a few bingo halls, approx. 13.000 landbased betting shops.”
What are your next goals as regulators of the sector and which are the priorities?
“A better player protection, especially with the expected establishment of the responsible gambling found and foundation. We are working on debureaucratisation by means of moving online more and more of our activity. There are permanent changes in the industry; we are considering some small adjustments of the legal framework, in order to adapt to these changes, but also things that in practice are not working properly. These are not major changes, and we will discuss with all stakeholders before making any proposals to the Parliament or Government”.