How to check a new betting site is licensed in Kenya

A licence check compares what a betting site says about itself with what the regulator has published. You need the site open in a browser, the regulator's list and a phone. The six steps below take you from the site footer to a confirmed answer.

Each line on the list also carries a status word. What the New status in the GRA list does and does not tell you is explained separately, so this guide stays with the matching.

Step 1: Find the company behind the site

Look in the site footer, the terms and conditions and the About page for a company name, usually ending in Limited. Section 29(a) of the Gambling Control Act, 2025 lets only a body corporate with at least thirty per cent of its shares held by Kenyan citizens hold a licence. A brand name on its own is not a licensee.

Regulation 4(1) of L.N. 112 makes a licensee submit its terms and conditions to the Authority for approval. Under regulation 4(2)(a), those terms must give the promoter's name and full physical address. Copy that name exactly as the terms print it.

If the terms name only a company registered outside Kenya, stop at this step. Section 79(1) of the Act allows a foreign-based operator an online licence only if it is registered in Kenya and has a physical address registered in Kenya. The article on foreign betting sites targeting Kenya covers that situation.

Step 2: Note the trading name

The trading name is the brand you see in adverts and app stores. On the regulator's list it sits in the Trading Name column, beside the company. Regulation 29 of L.N. 111 requires a licensee to trademark the name it trades under and to give the Authority the certificate within thirty days of licensing.

The list reproduces names as published, with odd spacing and capitals left in place. Search for the main word of the brand rather than a full slogan.

Step 3: Copy the licence number

Section 36(3) of the Act requires an online licensee to display its licence on its platform. Look for that licence line near the footer or on the About page. Copy every digit, including leading zeros.

Adverts are a second place to look. Regulation 8(c) of the Advertising Regulations, L.N. 114, requires each approved advert to show the licence number, the licensee's name and address and a customer-care number. It must also carry the words "authorized and regulated by the Gambling Regulatory Authority".

On the list, bookmaker licence numbers sit in the column headed BK. The page does not explain BK, PG or PL, so compare the digits, not the labels.

Step 4: Write down the exact domain

Copy the web address from your browser's address bar, not from an advert, a text message or a social media post. Note the ending, such as .com, .co.ke or .ke. One extra letter or a different ending means a different site.

Regulation 11(2)(g) of L.N. 111 requires an online licence application to state the proposed platform and domain name. So the Authority holds a domain on file for each online licensee, even when the public list leaves the cell empty.

Step 5: Match all four details on the GRA list

Open the list at gra.go.ke/licensed-operators. It is one long table headed for the trading period 2025/26, with 187 lines on 29 October 2026. Use your browser's find function to search the company name first, then the trading name.

A match means one line carries the same company, trading name, licence number and domain as the site. Three out of four is not a match. The tables below set out where each detail lives and show two lines as published.

Step 6: Call the toll-free line

The regulator's website shows a toll-free line, 0800-723-770. Its Online Services page also lists +254-111021400 and +254-111021407. Ask two plain questions: does this domain belong to this licensee, and is the licence current?

Write down the date, the time, the number you called and the answer. If you prefer to go in person, the footer of the regulator's website gives ACK Gardens Annex, Bishop Road, 1st Ngong Avenue, Nairobi, open Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm.

What to do when the domain is not listed yet

On 29 October 2026 every one of the 17 New lines read Nil in the DOMAINS column. The page was last modified on 19 March 2026, according to its content API. A recently licensed company can therefore show a correct name and number with no web address beside it.

In that case the check is incomplete, not failed. Keep the site unconfirmed until the Authority confirms the domain: no deposit and no ID upload in the meantime. Ask the toll-free line, and file the answer with your notes.

Watch for copies while you wait. A look-alike site can borrow a real company name and licence number from the public list. The guide to a domain that is missing from the GRA list covers the Nil cell in more depth.

After the check: what a match or a mismatch means

A missing company, a different licence number or an unknown domain is a reason to stop. Section 28(1) of the Act bars anyone from offering a gambling activity or service unless it is licensed under the Act. A licence from another country does not meet that test.

You can tell the Authority about the site. The steps for reporting an unlicensed betting site in Kenya list what to include. Other warning signs, such as deposits to a personal phone number, are in the guide to new betting site red flags.

A full match shows that the company, brand, number and domain appear together on the regulator's list. It does not give the licence expiry date, which the web list does not publish. It also says nothing about how fast the site pays or how it handles a complaint.

Repeat the check if the site changes its domain, its company name or its app. A change in any of the four details starts the match again from Step 1.