What 'New' means in the status column of the GRA list

What does the STATUS column on the GRA list show?

The Gambling Regulatory Authority publishes one list of licensed companies on gra.go.ke. Its heading reads "Licensed Gaming Companies for the Trading Period 2025/26". The table has eight columns: No., Operators Name, Trading Name, BK, PG, PL, STATUS and DOMAINS.

On 29 October 2026 the table held 187 rows. The STATUS cell read Renewal on 170 of them and New on 17. No third word appears in that column.

The page defines neither word. It also leaves BK, PG and PL unexplained, although the column headed BK carries bookmaker licence numbers, in line with the Act's categories of bookmaker, public gaming and public lottery. The wider route from a status word to a checked site is in the guide on how to check a new licensee in Kenya.

New or Renewal: what separates the two words?

Read at face value, Renewal sits on the line of a company whose earlier licence was renewed for the period. New sits on a line that the list does not record as a renewal. The page says nothing more, so any wider meaning is a guess.

The law shows why both words exist. Section 122(1) of the Gambling Control Act, 2025 kept licences issued under the repealed Betting, Lotteries and Gaming Act valid for their term. Section 122(2) then requires the holder, once that licence expires, to apply to the Authority for a new one.

Renewal has its own timetable in the Gambling Control (Licensing) Regulations, 2026. Regulation 24(2) of L.N. 111 requires a renewal application at least ninety days before the licence expires. Under regulation 24(3), the Authority issues the renewed licence to a successful applicant within thirty days.

One company can carry numbers in more than one licence column, so the licence rows do not add up to the row count. The comparison of a renewal and a new licence for players covers what each status means for an existing account.

Why New describes an application, not quality

The STATUS column records a step in licensing. It carries no score, no complaint record and no payout history. A New line and a Renewal line sit in the same table under the same headings.

The legal duties match as well. Section 29(a) of the Act requires every licensee to be a body corporate with at least thirty per cent of its shares held by Kenyan citizens. Section 29(b) adds an account with an authorised financial institution registered in Kenya, into which all gambling money is paid.

Section 36(3) requires an online licensee to display its licence on its platform. Regulation 84 of L.N. 112 requires deposit, loss and session limits that players can set for themselves. The full set of duties a newly licensed bookmaker must meet is listed one by one.

So a New mark is neither praise nor a warning. It says the list holds no renewal for that line. In practice it also means the brand has a short public history, which is a reason to check details with more care.

The trading period behind the word

New only makes sense against the period in the heading, which is 2025/26. The site's own content API dates the last change to the page to 19 March 2026. Nothing on the visible page shows that date.

That change came before the 2026 Regulations, which were made on 29 June 2026 and gazetted on 30 June 2026. Regulation 30(1) of L.N. 111 kept licences from the repealed Act in force for sixty days from that publication. Regulation 30(2) required holders to apply for the appropriate licence within those sixty days.

The Regulations also changed licence length. Section 31(3) of the Act sets thirty-six months unless regulations prescribe another period. Regulation 22 and the Fourth Schedule of L.N. 111 set one year for an online gambling licence, whether new or renewed.

The short introduction above the table still mentions licensed companies as of July 1, 2023 and a 2023/24 trading period. Rely on the table heading instead. The glossary note on the trading period on the GRA list explains the term.

What the list does not record

Section 39(1) of the Act tells the Authority to keep a register of licences. For every licence it records the licensee's name and registration number, the activity, the counties and the expiry date. It also records any revocation, suspension or amendment.

The web list carries only part of that. It shows names, licence numbers, status and domains, but no issue date, no expiry date, no county and no suspension note. Section 39(2) opens the full register to the public at reasonable times, on payment of the prescribed fee.

The domain gap matters most on New lines, because all 17 read Nil in the DOMAINS column. A Nil cell does not prove a site is unlicensed, and it does not confirm any web address either. The guide to a betting site domain that is not on the list deals with that case.

How to use a New line before you trust a site

Treat a New line as a starting point, not a verdict. Match its company name, trading name and BK number with what the site itself displays. Then ask the Authority to confirm the web address, since the list gives none.

The regulator's website shows a toll-free line for questions, 0800-723-770. A short call that names the company and the domain is enough. The step-by-step guide on checking that a new betting site is licensed walks through each match.