The USR wants to ban slot machines from apartment blocks and towns under 5,000 inhabitants – draft law

USR on Tuesday tabled a legislative project initiated by MP Tudor Pop to ban gambling venues from operating in towns with fewer than 5,000 inhabitants, and in larger towns to ban them in residential buildings or within 300 metres of another gambling venue, according to a party statement.

The USR draft completes GEO 77/2009 on the organisation and operation of gambling in the sense of introducing new criteria for obtaining a gambling operating licence.

Specifically, gambling venues should not be allowed to operate in residential buildings or mixed-use buildings – basically on the ground floor of blocks of flats – nor in premises that are less than 300 metres from another gambling venue.

At the same time, in order to reduce the presence of gambling halls in rural areas, the draft provides for a ban on their operation in localities with a population of less than 5,000 inhabitants.

According to the USR, in Austria, for example, operators in all Länder must comply with a maximum ratio of one gaming machine per 1,200 inhabitants in order to obtain an operating licence. In the Czech Republic, cities such as Prague, Brno and Ostrava have completely banned gambling. In Germany’s Baden-Württemberg state, gambling venues must be placed at least 500 metres apart. In Latvia, gambling is banned in residential buildings, and in Spain gambling venues cannot be located in vulnerable areas.

The USR bill comes after the PNL dynamited its own bill which provided for a total ban on gambling advertising. The draft in radical form was tabled by PNL MEP Adrian Cozma, but Alina Gorghiu substantially modified it with a series of amendments later supported by the PSD and PNL.

Translated