If a new betting site loses its licence in Kenya: what happens to your account

What does losing a licence mean under Kenyan law?

A betting site in Kenya can lose the right to trade in four ways. The Gambling Regulatory Authority can suspend the licence under section 34 of the Gambling Control Act, 2025, revoke it under section 33, or refuse to renew it under section 32. The company can also wind up its own business, which regulation 96 of the Conduct of Gambling Operations Regulations, 2026 (L.N. 112) governs.

Each route has its own notice rules and its own effect on your account. A new licensee is covered by the same sections from its first day of trading. You can see which companies carry a New status in our page on new licensees on the regulator's list.

Suspension is a pause. Revocation ends the licence, and section 33(8) requires the former holder to surrender it and bars that holder from a licence for a period of up to five years from the date the revocation takes effect.

On what grounds can the Authority suspend or revoke a licence?

Section 33(1) of the Act allows revocation where the holder breaches the Act, made a statement in its application that it knew to be false, is wound up or dissolved, or breaches a condition required for the licence. Section 34(1) allows suspension where the holder contravenes the Act, after notice and a chance to be heard.

Regulation 26(1) of the Gambling Control (Licensing) Regulations, 2026 (L.N. 111), gazetted on 30 June 2026, adds a longer list. Two grounds matter most for a new site. One is failing to start business within six months of the licence being issued, and the other is stopping operations for more than three months without the Authority's approval.

The other grounds in regulation 26(1) include insolvency, failing to keep or submit required records, failing to protect the confidentiality of data, selling or merging the business without consent, a winding-up order, an unpaid annual licence fee and failed audit requirements. Regulation 8 of L.N. 112 also lets the Authority suspend a licence whose capital falls below the required level, after notice and a hearing. Under regulation 26(3) of L.N. 111 the Authority may instead order the licensee to fix a breach within a set period and impose monetary or other sanctions.

What notice must the Authority give before a licence goes?

Section 33(2) requires the Authority to serve a notice of intended revocation that states the grounds. The licensee then has fourteen days from service to give reasons why the licence should stay. Under section 33(3) the notice must be served at least twenty-one days before the intended revocation date.

If the licensee gives no reasons in time, section 33(4) says the licence ceases to be valid. If it does reply, section 33(5) lets the Authority decide on the papers or call the licensee to make oral representations. Section 33(7) says the revocation takes effect when the notice period expires.

Illustrative example: a notice served on 1 March must name a revocation date no earlier than 22 March, and the licensee's written reasons are due by 15 March. These dates only show how the two periods fit together, because the Authority sets the real dates in its own notice.

The public is told as well. Section 34(3) of the Act and regulation 26(9) of L.N. 111 require the Authority to publish a suspension or revocation in the Kenya Gazette and in two newspapers of nationwide circulation or other media of national coverage, and regulation 26(9) adds the grounds. Regulation 26(4) gives the licensee written reasons within seven days of the decision.

A voluntary exit follows a different track. Regulation 96(1) of L.N. 112 requires a licensee that wants to wind up to give the Authority at least ninety days' written notice. Regulation 96(3) then requires the Authority to publish the intended winding up on its website.

What happens to the money in your account?

The rules on player money apply long before anything goes wrong. Section 76(2) of the Act requires the money held for players to be, at any time, at least equal to the total standing to the credit of all player accounts. Any shortfall must be made good from the licensee's own money within thirty days of the end of the month in which it occurs.

Regulation 41(f) of L.N. 112 requires an online platform to keep player funds in accounts separate from operational funds. Section 76(3) of the Act bars the licensee from enforcing any charge, write-off or set-off against a player's account, or combining it with another account for a debt the player owes.

When a licence is revoked, regulation 26(5) of L.N. 111 requires the licensee to take measures to safeguard player deposits and personal data. Regulation 26(6) covers the case where the Authority takes over the licensee's business. The licensee must then hand over its entire database in the format the Authority specifies and erase its own copy as directed.

Section 33(6) and section 34(5) of the Act say that revocation or suspension does not prejudice any liability or obligation incurred under the licence before it. Those words keep in place what the company already owed on the day of the decision, which includes the balances it had to cover under section 76. Section 77(1) separately requires a licensee to pay out the balance of an account that has had no transaction for three months.

What should you do first?

Start with what you can check, and keep a record of every step. The order below follows the rules set out above.

1. Stop depositing, and do not place new bets with money you may need to recover.
2. Look for the site's line on the regulator's list and for a Gazette notice or a notice on gra.go.ke. Our guide to checking that a new betting site is licensed lists what to compare.
3. Take dated screenshots of your balance, open bets, deposit receipts and M-Pesa or bank messages.
4. Ask in writing for a withdrawal of your full balance, through your account or customer care, and keep the reply.
5. If nothing is resolved within 72 hours, ask in writing for the matter to go to the Authority. Regulation 9(2)(e) of L.N. 112 requires the licensee to refer a complaint unresolved after seventy-two hours, or on a written request.
6. Contact the Authority directly if the site has gone silent. The toll-free line 0800-723-770 is shown on the regulator's website, and section 10(m) of the Act gives the Authority the function of receiving and deciding complaints from the public.

The full escalation path, including the Gambling Appeals Tribunal, is set out in the complaints process a new licensee must offer.

What should you watch for after a site loses its licence?

A site that keeps taking bets after revocation is breaking the law. Regulation 26(7) of L.N. 111 requires the holder to surrender the licence and stop business within seven days of being notified, and regulation 26(8) makes a failure an offence carrying a fine of up to KES 500,000, up to two years' imprisonment, or both. Section 98 of the Act separately punishes operating without a valid licence, with a fine of up to KES 3,000,000, up to three years' imprisonment, or both, for a first offence.

A licence cannot pass to another company. Regulation 28(1) of L.N. 111 bars the transfer of a licence, so a message asking you to move your balance to a partner brand does not bring the old licence with it. Check any new name on the list on its own terms.

If you registered a self-exclusion with the Authority, it does not end because one site closes. Regulation 70(5) of L.N. 112 still bars a person on the register from placing a bet or opening a gambling account.

How does a lost licence differ from an expired one?

An expired licence ends on a date, not by a decision against the company. Renewal applications are due at least ninety days before expiry under regulation 24(2) of L.N. 111, and the timing is explained in how long a new online betting licence lasts. What a renewed line means next to a new one is covered in renewal vs new licence for players.

What this guide does not cover

This guide explains the Act and the 2026 Regulations as gazetted, and it does not say whether any named site has been suspended or revoked. The list headed Licensed Gaming Companies for the Trading Period 2025/26 has no column for suspensions, although section 39(1)(e) requires the Authority's register of licences to record them. It is not legal advice, and a lawyer can advise on a claim against a company that has failed.