Romania Slot-Machine Authorizations Drop 88% as Local Rules Take Effect

BUCHAREST: Romania authorized just 2,337 slot-machine positions between February and May 2026, down 88% from 18,981 a year earlier. The contraction follows new rules giving municipalities greater authority over gambling and has coincided with a sharp decline in authorization-fee revenue.

The contraction follows a February overhaul that gave municipalities greater authority over land-based gambling. The figures suggest the effect has extended beyond places that have formally restricted gambling, since only a small proportion of Romania’s local authorities have so far adopted decisions under the new system.

Only 29,014 Gaming Devices Remain in Operation

Romania authorized 45,659 gaming devices during 2025, according to the figures, while 29,014 are currently operating. That leaves the active total at about 64% of the number authorized last year, although the two figures cover different periods and should not be treated as a direct year-over-year comparison.

The sharper comparison is in new slot-machine authorizations. The 2,337 positions authorized from February through May represent an 88% decline from the 18,981 approved during the corresponding four months of 2025.

The drop has also reached government receipts. Slot-machine operators owed RON485 million in authorization fees between February and May 2025, compared with RON300 million during the same period this year, a decline of about 38%.

Few Municipalities Have Actually Banned Gambling

The figures follow changes introduced by Emergency Ordinance 7/2026, which gave municipalities greater authority over physical gambling locations. Businesses now need local authorization alongside their national gambling approvals, while local councils can decide whether gambling is permitted in their jurisdictions.

The regulation gave local councils 60 days to adopt rules for issuing those authorizations. Yet only 90 of approximately 3,100 administrative-territorial units had adopted council decisions by the time of the latest data, even though that deadline had passed more than two months earlier.

Of those 90 decisions, 35 prohibit gambling activities and 55 allow them. That means the steep fall in new authorizations cannot be attributed simply to widespread municipal bans, because most local authorities have yet to make a formal decision and most of those that have acted opted to permit gambling.

Transitional Rules Remain an Issue

The new figures provide the first clearer indication of the market impact since Romania gave municipalities greater control over gambling venues. Industry groups had previously warned that the transition could disrupt approvals because operators needed to navigate the new local authorization process while existing national authorizations expired.

The National Gambling Office, or ONJN, said it has provided technical support and proposed transitional rules intended to address the current authorization problems. The Ministry of Finance backed the proposal, but no legislative amendment had been adopted at the time of the latest information.

Any transition period or further clarification of how national gambling regulation interacts with municipal authority would therefore require action from Romania’s central government. Until then, the authorization figures indicate that the land-based slot sector is contracting considerably faster than the number of formal local gambling bans alone would suggest.

RELATED TOPICS: Regulation