Failure to comply with the outstanding renewal requirements and ongoing due diligence as prerequisites to holding a licence from the Betting Control and Licensing Board has cost quite a number of betting firms in the country.
On Wednesday the Betting Control and Licensing Board Acting Director Liti Wambua ordered the withdrawal of pay bill numbers and SMS code for 27 betting firms whose licenses have failed to meet the outstanding renewal requirements in an official letter to telecommunications companies Safaricom PLC, Airtel and Telkom Kenya.
“We wish to inform you that the licenses for the following betting firms were not renewed until they meet the outstanding renewal requirements as well as the outcome of ongoing due diligence to determine if they are fit and proper to hold a license from this board. Consequently, we request you to suspend their pay bills and shortcodes until otherwise advised,” the letter dated July 10, 2019 read.
However, seven betting firms survived the order, having managed to get their business licenses renewed. Among the list of companies that will be operational having complied with the requirements of the Board include; BetLion, MCheza, Kwikbet, OdiBets, Gamemania, Betpalace, and Betika
SportPesa, Betin, Betway, Betpawa, Elitebet, PremierBet, Lucky2u, 1xBet, MozzartBet, Dafabet, World Sports Betting, Atari Gaming, Palms Bet and Betboss, were among the many firms whose licenses were cancelled for failure to meet the new terms on license renewal.
the Betting Control and Licensing Board (BCLB) has granted the firms a 48-hour window before shutting their paybills as the government intensifies its radical shutdown of the Sh200-billion-a-year industry.
This was incited by a revelation that the betting companies made a cumulative amount of Ksh.204 billion last year but paid only Ksh.4 billion in taxes following an investigation into the licenses of all betting and gaming companies in the country, by a multi-agency team.
