By Adriana Radu, Head of Telecom, Media and Technology Team and Oana Apopei, Attorney at Law at Schoenherr & Asociatii

Government Emergency Ordinance no. 77/2009 on organization and exploitation of games of chance ("GEO 77/2009") has been amended by the Emergency Ordinance no. 92/2014 on regulation of fiscal and budgetary measures and amendment of certain regulations ("GEO 92/2014"), published in the Official Gazette of Romania no. 957 on 30 December 2014. The amendments brought by GEO 92/20014 to GEO 77/2009 will enter into force on 13 February 2015.

Games of Chance
GEO 92/2014 amends the definition of a Game of Chance defining it as any activity which cumulatively fulfils the following conditions: material prizes, generally monetary, are awarded following a public offer of potential winnings by the organiser and acceptance of this offer by the participant, and direct or indirect payment of a participation fee, any winnings being awarded on the basis of game rules approved by the Romanian National Gambling Office ("ONJN" or the "Office"), through random selection of the results of the events to which the game relates, regardless of how these results are achieved.

In addition, the organisation of any activities involving any of the following elements must be approved by the ONJN Monitoring Committee: a game and/or round characteristic of games of chance, participation fee or stake, prize fund or prizes to be awarded to a winner/winners, gaming equipment specifically for games of chance (cards, dice, gaming tables, etc.), organisers of activities characteristic of games of chance, participants in these activities.

The new regulation presents in a bit of more detail the activities which fall outside the scope of gambling laws, such a non-profit tombolas or promotional lotteries, one of the main amendments being the introduction in relation to amusement or entertainment games of the criteria of "preponderance of chance", in the sense that may fall outside the scope of gambling laws, amusement games or sporting games whereby players are required to demonstrate knowledge and skills and which are not based predominantly on chance.

For promotional actions organised by various businesses in order to stimulate sales and which do not involve any participation fee or any additional expenditure for the participants or any increase in the price of the product relative to its price before the promotion, it will be necessary to acquire the prior approval of the ONJN Monitoring Committee.
Several other clarifications are introduced in relation to the definitions of certain terms used for the qualification of an activity as a game of chance.

Traditional or Remote Games of Chance
The law creates two categories of games of chance, namely traditional and remote/online games of chance.
Traditional games of chance are defined as all games of chance, whether or not provided in the applicable regulations, that meet the conditions detailed above for a game of chance, which are played using gaming equipment installed on Romanian territory and which are not transmitted or played via any communication system (internet, fixed or mobile telephone system or any other transmission systems).
Remote or online games of chance means all games of chance, whether or not provided in the applicable regulations, that meet the conditions detailed above for a game of chance and which are only played via a communication system (internet, fixed or mobile telephone system or any other transmission systems).

Gambling Organizer's License and Gambling Operator's Authorization
Gambling organiser's licence is valid for 10 years from the date on which it is granted. The law introduces the concept of temporary licenses for 3 months, for certain categories of games of chance, played in touristic resorts.
The gambling operator's authorization of valid for 1 year, with the exception of the authorizations granted in connection with temporary gambling organizer's licenses.

Legal entities organized in EU Member States
May apply for a gambling organizer's license, established Romanian legal person or a legal person legally established in an EU Member State, or in a state signatory to the Agreement on the European Economic Area, or in the Swiss Confederation.

Authorization Procedure and Taxes
As an element of novelty, the authorization taxes are expressed in EUR and the law contains very detailed and strict technical and operational conditions which must be met by the organizers of remote games of chance, such as:

(i) that they hold a bank account with a bank licensed in Romania, or with an authorised bank in another EU Member State or in another State party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area or in the Swiss Confederation but which operates on Romanian territory, in which to deposit players' money and winnings payments; 

(ii) that the organiser's central IT system has a system for recording and identifying participants in the game, as well as a system whereby simultaneous gambling sessions, every participation fee paid by every player and the winnings paid out to every player are transmitted and saved in real time to a mirror server and a backup server on Romanian territory, both of which are made available to the ONJN free of charge. The central ICT system must automatically record every transaction, in real time, to the mirror server made available to the ONJN and transmit periodic summary reports to the backup server, according to the procedure regulated under the application norms of GEO 92/2014.

(iii) that the software used to run remote games of chance, as well as any new software version used to run remote games of chance, has been approved in advance by the ONJN on the basis of tests carried out by an authorised laboratory, in compliance with the list approved by the ONJN Monitoring Committee, as well as under the conditions and in compliance with a procedure established under the application norms of GEO 92/2014;

(iv) the existence of an authorised representative for the company in the event that it is registered in another EU Member State or another State party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area or in the Swiss Confederation, a representative who must be resident on Romanian territory and have powers of representation to the extent that they are empowered to sign contracts in the name of the foreign party and to represent them before Romanian courts and State authorities. The conditions that must be fulfilled by the authorised representative will be regulated under the application norms of GEO 92/2014;

(v) that the game server and the mirror server store all data relating to the provision of remote gambling services, including records and identification of the players, the stakes placed and the winnings paid out. Information must be stored using data storage equipment (mirror server) situated on Romanian territory, in compliance with the procedure established under the application norms of GEO 92/2014. The data will be stored in the form in which it was created, for a period of five years following expiry of the limitation period, for the purposes of public debt recovery associated with this data.

(vi) that the communication equipment records the geographical location of a player's IP address, as well as the date, time and duration of their game session, once they have registered as a participant in a game on the organiser's website. The data will be stored for a period of no less than five years from the date of its collection and processing.

(vii) that the communication equipment and the central location at which the organiser's central IT system is to be installed is on Romanian territory or on the territory of another EU Member State or another State party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area or in the Swiss Confederation;

b) the legal person's legal representatives must submit a self-declaration stating:
(viii) that no administrative measures have been taken against the legal person or their representatives in the field of games of chance, nor are any administrative measures being applied, in compliance with this Law, for a period of one year prior to the date of submission of the licence application, etc.

Services Offered to Organizers of Games of Chance
Businesses involved in the production, distribution, repair and maintenance of gaming equipment, importation, exportation, intra-Community purchase, intra-Community supply activities or other activities involving gaming components or equipment, with a view to any kind of marketing or use on Romanian territory, are required to obtain a licence from the ONJN Monitoring Committee and to declare gaming equipment to the Office, within 15 working days of the accounting date for these production, importation, exportation, intra-Community purchase or supply operations, or of the date of any kind of marketing or use on Romanian territory;

Businesses involved in activities associated with the field of remote games of chance in Romania, for example businesses offering management and hosting facilities on their gaming platform, payment processors, software producers and distributors, affiliates, certifiers and auditors, are required to obtain a licence from the ONJN Monitoring Committee.
Partners, shareholders, members of the management team and the licensed gambling organiser's control body, the owner or lessee of the premises used for games of chance, the gambling operator's employees and ONJN staff, are not allowed to participate in games of chance operated in Romania.

The Government is due to issue implementation norms within 30 days from 30 December 2014.