Speaking at a conference on online gambling organized by financial daily Ziarul Financiar and the law firm, Costea said nobody has so far been punished for using unauthorized gambling sites.
There are 450,000 gaming fans in Romania who place bets online, but it is quite difficult to prove who uses unauthorized sites, said Costea . He pointed out that Romania must create online gambling monitoring entities.
“The law has created a loophole regarding online gambling checkup. It does not clearly state who will monitor online games in Romania. It could be a state authority or a private company,” said Costea.
The Romanian law allows all types of online gambling, but no local company is authorized to organize such games, as there are no regulations on how to apply the law, according to Bostina&Associates.
The Romanian gambling market is currently estimated at about EUR500 million.
Romanian authorities have regulated gambling this year. The Government decided operators must have an office registered in Romania, as it makes it easier for authorities to uncover money laundering.
According to a decision approved by the Government in August, gaming fans may place online bets with Romanian companies. Romanian law neither allowed, nor banned trans-border online games, but used to forbid Romania-registered companies from organizing online games.
The new rules allow gambling to be organized in Romania by phone or through the Internet. Such companies are required to pay the state 10% of their earnings, but no less than 400,000 lei (EUR93,000), if they run a bingo game, or 5% of their earnings, but no less than RON250,000, if they take bets.
Other forms of gambling are subject to a tax of 1.5% of the earnings, but no less than RON400,000. (EUR1=RON4.3053)