A Betin shop in Nairobi. FILE PHOTO | NMG
Gambling regulator has ordered Safaricom to
suspend M-Pesa pay bills and SMS short codes for
27 betting firms including SportPesa and Betin because the operating licence for the year starting July 1 were not renewed.
27 betting firms including SportPesa and Betin because the operating licence for the year starting July 1 were not renewed.
Betting Control and
Licensing Board (BCLB) say the 27 firms are yet to meet undisclosed
licensing requirements and are being vetted to establish if they are fit
to hold gambling permits.
The order comes weeks after
the State said it had refused to renew operating permits for 19 gambling
firms and deferred eight others in a shake-up of an industry that
generates more than Sh200 billion in annual sales.
Safaricom
says the orders, which will affect 12 million betting accounts, has
left it at a crossroads because some of the accounts have money and some
firms like SportPesa and Betin have secured orders to continue
operating.
The board said the renewal of the licences
is dependent on operations and directors of the firms getting a clean
bill of health in an ongoing security vetting process.
The switch-off will disable the betting firms given that the
bulk of gambling takes place online and through phone and services like
M-Pesa allow users to place bets, pay off losses and get winnings on
their phone
“Consequently, we request you to suspend
pay bills and short codes until otherwise advised,” said the BCLB to
Safaricom in a July 10 letter.
Safaricom reckon that it
will be in breach of the law to disable operations of firms like
SportPesa and Betin given they have court orders allowing them to
continue operating.
The High Court suspended the decision by BCLB to withdraw Betin Kenya’s licence.
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