Romania is a country in south-east Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the east, Bulgaria to the south, Serbia to the south-west, Hungary to the north-west, Ukraine to the north and north-east, and Moldova to the north-east.
Overview
Romania has a somewhat weird history with its online gambling regulation. In the past, they allowed online gambling for companies with a license, but there was no licensing body in the country. When a licensing body was established, one of the requirements was that the operator had to be tied in with a Romania land-based casino, and the European Commission had a fit.
They finally got rid of this part of their licensing process, and now they have a much more business-friendly set of requirements. The only thing that might hold them back at this point are higher-than-average taxes.
Romania is also fairly aggressive against unlicensed operators running in the country, and they have put into place a one-year delay for any operator to apply for a license who was previously running games in the country without a license.
Licensing
The main licensing requirement at this point is that the operator keep a mirror of their servers in Romania so that the regulatory body can have access to any and all data for auditing. This is a pretty standard requirement that's seen in a lot of areas, so it's not really all that out of the ordinary. Aside from that, their licensing process is all about keeping untrustworthy operators and software companies out of their market, and that's exactly what it's supposed to do in the first place.
Player Protections
Players see good levels of protection under this regime. The key points are that players can escalate complaints through the regulatory body as needed, and these complaints are taken seriously and investigated properly. A close eye is also kept on the mirrors of the servers for operators, and this helps to make sure that nothing shady is going on. As for unlicensed play for foreign operators, it's not recommended because of upcoming policies that will likely result in transaction blocking, geo-targeted blacklists and other measures that could leave players unable to retrieve funds from their accounts.
Further Reading
Romania is a country in south-east Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the east, Bulgaria to the south, Serbia to the south-west, Hungary to the north-west, Ukraine to the north and north-east, and Moldova to the north-east. Overview Romania has a somewhat weird history with its online gambling regulation. In the past, they allowed online gambling for companies with a license, but there was no licensing body in the country. When a licensing body was established, one of the requirements was that...