List of betting firms whose licenses were canceled
The Kenyan government, after declining to renew the licenses of betting companies operating in the country has now added salt to the wound by ordering Safaricom and Airtel to withdraw mobile money PayBill numbers and shortcodes for the gambling companies.
The Betting Control and Licensing Board Acting Director Liti Wambua has now written a letter to the telecommunication companies informing them that their licenses remain withdrawn and that they should suspend their payment portals with immediate effect.
Early in May, the government had laid down tough rules to govern the gambling industry in Kenya and protect the consumer from being misled and exploited.
The entire issue emanates from the failure of the betting firms that to prove that they are tax compliant, some of which, such as SportPesa required to pay Billions in tax arrears in order to fulfill this requirement.
A report from the multi-agency team indicated that the companies made a cumulative amount of Ksh.204 billion last year but paid only Ksh.4 billion in taxes.
Here’s a fair list of the firms whose licenses have been suspended:
- SportPesa
- Betin
- Betway
- Betpawa
- Premierbet
- Lucky 2 U
- 1X Bet
- Dafa bet
- World Sport Bet
- Atari Gaming
- Palmsbet
- Betboss
- Betyetu
- Elitebet
- Bungabet
- Cysabet
- Nestbet
- Easybet
- Kick Off
- Millionaire Sports Bet
- Kenya Sports Bet
- Eastleighbet
The government is contemplating deporting bosses affiliated with the affected betting firms.
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