This archive report was first published on 13 July 2019.
Government Crackdown on Betting Firms ¶
On June 11, 2019, the Kenyan government ordered telecommunications service providers to block the pay bill numbers and short message service (SMS) codes of 27 betting firms, including Betin.
Betin, one of the affected firms, has assured its customers that their deposits are safe despite the government's move.
"We are deeply concerned by the recent directive by the Betting and Lottery Control Board (BLCB) to have our payment services removed. We want to assure our customers that their deposits are safe," Betin said in a statement.
The firm also stated that it has been paying taxes as required by law and has been issued with certificates to prove its compliance.
"As of now, Betin Kenya has paid taxes as required by law and has been issued with certificates to show that we pay taxes as required," the firm said.
Other affected firms include SportPesa, Betway, Betpawa, Dafabet, Elitebet, 1xBet, and MozzartBet.
SportPesa, one of the affected firms, has stated that the government's move is contrary to a court order that was issued to stop the BLCB from taking such action.
"The government's move is contrary to a court order that was issued to stop the BLCB from taking such action," SportPesa said.
On July 12, 2019, Safaricom, a leading telecommunications service provider, removed the pay bill numbers of the affected firms from its system.
