ONJN approved: verify a Romanian gambling licence

What "ONJN approved" actually means

"ONJN approved" is shorthand for something specific: the operator holds a valid licence issued by the ONJN (Oficiul Național pentru Jocuri de Noroc), the Romanian National Gambling Office, under GEO 77/2009 as amended. It is not a marketing badge an operator awards itself, and it is not a rating. It is a legal authorisation recorded on a public register the regulator maintains.

The phrase conflates two instruments that Romanian law keeps separate. The licence to organise (licența de organizare) runs for ten years and establishes that the operator is fit to run gambling. The operating authorisation (autorizația de exploatare) is issued for one year at a time and permits actual activity. An operator that lets its annual authorisation lapse can still hold a live ten-year licence yet not be entitled to take bets. "Approved" in the strict sense means both instruments are current.

A licence proves the operator was vetted once; the annual authorisation proves it is entitled to take a bet today.

The distinction matters because a searcher checking legitimacy wants to know the operator can lawfully accept them right now, not that it once passed a fit-and-proper test. The register carries the dates that answer both questions.

Where the public register is

The authoritative source is the ONJN website itself, not an aggregator or a casino-review site. The regulator publishes separate lists by class:

Class (BC) licensed operators — the player-facing brands entitled to take Romanian players — at onjn.gov.ro/licentiati-clasa-i.
Class (BB) licensed suppliers — software studios, platforms, payment processors, and affiliates that service Class operators — at onjn.gov.ro/licentiati-clasa-a-ii-a.
A consolidated licensee index collecting both, linked from the ONJN operators register.

Treat any list hosted anywhere other than onjn.gov.ro as secondary. Review portals and affiliate sites reproduce the register with a lag, and a brand delisted last month may still appear "approved" on a page that has not been refreshed. The regulator's own pages are the only entries that carry legal weight, and they are the ones to cite when a payment provider or bank asks for evidence.

How to read a register entry

Each entry identifies the licensed legal entity, not the consumer brand. This is the single most common point of confusion. A player knows a site by its trading name; the register lists the company that holds the licence, which is frequently a differently named Romanian or EU entity operating that brand. To verify, you match on the company behind the site, which reputable operators disclose in their Romanian terms and in the site footer.

A complete entry typically carries the operator's company name, its Romanian tax identifier (CUI) where the holder is a Romanian entity, the licence number and decision number, and the validity window of both the licence and the current annual authorisation. Read the dates first: a licence number without a live authorisation date is the tell-tale of a lapsed operator.

Because the lists are periodically republished as the regulator processes new grants, renewals, suspensions, and revocations, always note the date of the version you are reading. A verification is only as current as the list it rests on.

Class versus Class : which list to check

The class tells you what the entity is authorised to do, and checking the wrong list produces false negatives.

Class — the player-facing operator

Class is the BC authorisation. It is held by the entity that operates the player-facing brand, holds player accounts, accepts deposits, and pays winnings. If you are a player checking whether a casino or sportsbook may lawfully take your money, this is the list that answers the question. The mechanics of a Class grant are covered in our Class 1 authorisation guide.

Class — the supplier

Class is the BB authorisation, held by game studios, platform and aggregation providers, payment processors, and affiliates that supply or promote services to Class operators. A Class holder does not run player accounts. An affiliate or marketing partner verifying its own standing — or a Class operator vetting a supplier — checks this list. The scope of Class is set out in our Class 2 supplier guide.

A supplier appearing on the Class list is not thereby entitled to run a casino, and a Class operator is not authorised to supply BB services to others without a separate Class entry. The classes are distinct authorisations, and the register keeps them on distinct pages for exactly that reason.

Verifying a specific operator, step by step

To confirm a gambling site is entitled to serve Romanian players:

Find the licensed entity. Read the site's Romanian terms and footer for the company name and licence number. A legitimate operator states both; the absence of either is itself a warning.
Open the correct ONJN list. Player-facing brand, check Class ; supplier or affiliate, check Class .
Match on the company, not the brand. Search the entry by the legal entity behind the site, since the trading name may differ.
Read both dates. Confirm the ten-year licence is live and the one-year authorisation is current. A lapsed annual authorisation means the operator cannot lawfully take bets even if the licence still stands.
Cross-check the blacklist. If the domain appears on the ONJN blacklist, the operator is not authorised regardless of any badge it displays.

Where an operator's Romanian-facing site does not run on a .ro domain, that alone does not prove it is unlicensed — many licensed operators serve Romania on international domains — but it raises the bar for the other checks. The register, not the domain, is decisive.

The blacklist: operators that are not approved

The mirror image of the licensee register is the ONJN blacklist (lista neagră), at onjn.gov.ro/lista-neagra. It records domains, brands, and entities that offer or promote gambling to Romanian players without a licence. As at the most recent published tally the blacklist ran to roughly , domain names, and it grows continually as the regulator identifies new unlicensed sites.

ONJN communicates blacklisted domains to Romanian internet service providers for access blocking, and to payment institutions to choke off deposits and withdrawals. For a player or an affiliate, the practical rule is simple: appearing on the licensee register is necessary; appearing on the blacklist is disqualifying. A site can be absent from both — for example, a brand that has never targeted Romania — but no site can be legitimately "ONJN approved" while its domain sits on the blacklist.

The legal position of unlicensed operators

Serving Romanian players without an ONJN licence is not a grey area. Under GEO 77/2009, an operator found to have run unlicensed gambling faces mandatory dissolution of the legal entity and confiscation of the proceeds of the illegal activity. The regulator's enforcement is active rather than theoretical: in alone ONJN issued revocation orders and suspension orders, and sanctioned contraventions with fines totalling roughly RON ,,GEO 77/2009.

Liability reaches the demand side and the supply chain. A player participating in unlicensed online gambling from Romanian territory commits an administrative offence carrying a fine of RON ,gambling affiliate guide to RON ,gambling affiliate guide. A Class supplier — including an affiliate — that services an unlicensed operator targeting Romania commits an administrative offence sanctioned by a fine of RON ,gambling affiliate guide to RON ,gambling affiliate guide plus confiscation, and recent amendments criminalised a wider set of acts facilitating unauthorised gambling. The affiliate compliance position is developed in our gambling affiliate guide.

Being on the register is necessary; being on the blacklist is disqualifying.

What "approved" does not tell you

A live register entry confirms lawful authorisation. It does not, by itself, resolve every question a player or partner might have. It does not grade an operator's payout reliability, its complaint-handling, or its responsible-gambling conduct, all of which vary among licensed operators. It confirms that the operator was vetted against the fit-and-proper standard and remains authorised — no more.

For player protection specifically, Romanian law layers separate obligations on top of the licence: segregated player funds, the central self-exclusion register, deposit limits, and AML controls. Those duties, and how an operator's adherence can be checked, are set out in our player-protection and AML guide. A verification exercise that stops at the register answers "may this operator take my bet?" — not "should I trust it with more than the law compels?"

How an operator gets onto the register

For a prospective operator, appearing on the licensee list is the end of a defined process, not a formality. In outline, a Class applicant forms or designates a Romanian or EU entity, meets the capital floor — RON .m for Class , RON .m for Class — passes the fit-and-proper review, submits the technical and AML dossier, and pays the licence and authorisation fees. On approval, the operator is entered on the register and becomes visible to exactly the verification checks described above. The full sequence and timeline sit in our ONJN licensing pillar.

Operators also carry the ongoing burden of the Romanian tax stack — a % tax on gross gaming revenue under OUG 82/2023 plus a % responsible-gambling fund contribution — which our iGaming tax guide breaks down. The microenterprise regime is not available: gambling is statutorily excluded from it under Article of the Codul Fiscal, so a licensed operator pays standard % corporate income tax on profit, on top of the GGR tax.

ONJN office and contact details

Some verification questions are best put to the regulator directly — confirming an ambiguous entry, or checking the status of an operator mid-renewal. The ONJN head office is at Calea Victoriei nr. , sector , București, postcode . The public-relations line is .., and written enquiries reach the office at relatii.publice@onjn.gov.ro for public-information requests.

Public opening hours are Monday to Thursday, :website–:, and Friday, :website–:website. Online petitions and status enquiries can be lodged through the ONJN portal. For anything touching a live authorisation decision, the regulator's own website and register remain the primary reference; treat third-party contact details for "ONJN" with the same caution as third-party licensee lists.

Frequently asked questions

How do I check if a gambling site is ONJN approved?

Find the licensed company name and licence number in the site's Romanian terms or footer, then match it against the ONJN register — Class at onjn.gov.ro/licentiati-clasa-i for player-facing brands, Class at onjn.gov.ro/licentiati-clasa-a-ii-a for suppliers and affiliates. Confirm both the ten-year licence and the one-year authorisation are current, and check the domain is not on the ONJN blacklist.

What is the difference between a Class and a Class ONJN entry?

Class is the BC authorisation held by the operator that runs the player-facing brand, holds player accounts, and pays winnings. Class is the BB authorisation held by suppliers — game studios, platforms, payment processors, and affiliates — that service Class operators. Players check the Class list; suppliers and affiliates check the Class list.

Is it illegal to play on an unlicensed site in Romania?

Yes. Participating in unlicensed online gambling from Romanian territory is an administrative offence carrying a fine of RON , to RON ,. The operator itself faces mandatory dissolution and confiscation of proceeds, and ONJN blocks unlicensed domains at ISP level and blacklists them.

Does an operator need a .ro domain to be licensed?

No. Many licensed operators serve Romanian players on international domains. The decisive test is the ONJN register entry, not the domain extension. A non-.ro domain does not prove an operator is unlicensed, but it makes verifying the register entry and checking the blacklist more important.

Where is the official ONJN list of licensed operators?

On the regulator's own website, onjn.gov.ro — Class operators at /licentiati-clasa-i, Class suppliers at /licentiati-clasa-a-ii-a, and the blacklist of unlicensed sites at /lista-neagra. Lists hosted on review portals or affiliate sites are secondary and may lag behind the regulator's current version.

What does "ONJN approved" not guarantee?

A register entry confirms the operator is lawfully authorised and passed the fit-and-proper review. It does not grade payout reliability, complaint-handling, or responsible-gambling conduct, which vary among licensed operators. Separate statutory duties — segregated funds, self-exclusion, deposit limits, AML — sit on top of the licence and can be checked independently.

Talk to us

Whether you are an operator seeking to appear on the ONJN register or a supplier confirming your own Class our pricing standing, the licence and authorisation position is worth getting precisely right. We advise on ONJN licensing, verify authorisation status, and scope the route onto the register in writing. See our iGaming licensing service, then book a 30-minute call or review our pricing.

Related guides

Romanian iGaming licensing under ONJN: the complete 2026 guide — the pillar overview of the licensing regime
ONJN Class 1 (B2C) authorisation in detail — how a player-facing operator gets onto the register
ONJN Class 2 (B2B) supplier authorisation — the list suppliers and affiliates appear on
Gambling affiliate compliance in Romania — the risk position of promoting operators
Player-fund segregation, responsible gambling, and AML — the protections that sit on top of the licence
Romania's iGaming tax stack: the 27% revenue tax — the fiscal burden a licensed operator carries

ONJN-approved operators: how to verify a Romanian gambling licence