UK-listed online gambling operator Bwin.party digital entertainment has been blacklisted in Romania despite having recently paid €7.9m in back taxes.

Romania’s gambling regulator Oficiul National pentru Jocuri de Noroc (ONJN) recently updated its list of unauthorized gambling operators that have failed to comply with its licensing demands. The list, which has grown from its original 48 names to over 120, features several Bwin.party domains, including Bwin.com, PartyPoker.com and PartyCasino.com.

Bwin.party’s inclusion is puzzling, given that the company announced in August that it had acceded to the country’s demands to ante up back taxes worth 20% of all online revenue generated from Romanian punters since 2009. Bwin.party’s name has also yet to appear on the ONJN’s list of officially approved online operators, which includes the likes of 888, Bet365, Betfair, Fprtuna, PokerStars, Stanleybet, Unibet and others.

iGaming Business reported that the ONJN decided to spank Bwin.party because the company had chosen to continue operating in the country while its license application was pending, rather than temporarily freeze its dealings with Romanian punters until the company received the official nod to proceed. Bwin.party must now convince the ONJN that its decision to issue a provisional license to the company wasn’t a mistake.