Bet365 to challenge Romania shutdown
Operator joins bwin.party in having licence process blocked despite paying back taxes to regulator
Bet365 is considering its options with a view to challenging the Romanian regulator’s decision to revoke its licence after it became the latest operator to be blacklisted in the country despite paying back taxes there.
Romania’s National Office for Gambling (ONJN) said in a statement on its website it had “cancelled the company’s operating right” to offer gambling services through its bet365.com domain.
No reasons were given for the decision, however, and bet365 has refuted reports that it had continued to accept bets before it was issued a temporary licence.
“Bet365 takes its legal and regulatory obligations very seriously and considers that it has at all times acted in compliance with all relevant Romanian and European legal and regulatory requirements,” a bet365 spokesperson told eGR.
“Bet365 is extremely disappointed with the recent decision taken by the Romanian National Office for Gambling and is considering all of its options with a view to challenging the decision,” the spokesperson added.
Earlier this week bwin.party said it was in discussions with the ONJN and remained confident of a resolution after it was similarly blacklisted by the regulator, despite having paid 7.9m in back taxes.
Bet365 is understood to have returned significantly more than this figure as part of a requirement stipulated by the regulator to pay tax on revenues derived from Romania since the end of 2010 in return for a licence.
Earlier this week ONJN president Cristinela Odeta Nestor told eGR the regulator would target players who use unlicensed sites in an attempt to crackdown on the black market.
“Be assured that we will take actions against those who cause the violations of the law provisions, be they operators, persons providing related services or players,” Odeta Nestor said.