Betting site closed down: what happens to your money in Kenya

When a licensed bookmaker in Kenya stops trading, the money in your account is still owed to you. The law gives the regulator ways to protect player balances, but no public fund pays you if the company cannot. Your route runs from the operator to the Gambling Regulatory Authority, the order set out in how to complain about a betting company in Kenya.

How can a licensed betting site close?

There are three routes. The Authority can suspend the licence, the Authority can revoke it, or the company can decide to wind up. Each route has its own rules in the Gambling Control Act, 2025 and in the 2026 Regulations as gazetted.

Suspension under section 34(1) follows a breach of the Act, after notice and a chance to be heard. Section 34(3) then requires the Authority to inform the public at once through a Gazette notice and two newspapers of nationwide circulation, or other national media.

Revocation under section 33(1) covers four cases: a breach of the Act, a false statement in the application, a business that is wound up or dissolved, and a breach of a licensing condition. Under section 33(2) and (3), the licensee gets 14 days to answer a notice served at least 21 days before the revocation date.

Regulation 26(1) of the Gambling Control (Licensing) Regulations, 2026 (L.N. 111) adds grounds for both steps. They include stopping operations for more than three months without approval, insolvency, and a winding-up order or a shareholders' resolution to wind up voluntarily.

The list of licensed companies on gra.go.ke has no column for suspensions or revocations. Section 39(1)(e) requires the Authority's register of licences to record them, but the published web list shows only names, licence numbers, a status word and domains.

What does the law say about the money in your account?

Section 76(1) requires a licensee to deposit all of a player's money in a bank account or mobile money, or to pay it out in cash on request. Section 76(2) then requires the money held, including money in transit or being cleared, to be at least equal to the total of all player balances at any time.

If that money falls short, the proviso to section 76(2) makes the licensee cover the gap from its own money within 30 days from the end of the month of the shortfall. Section 76(3) bars the licensee from setting off a debt against your account or combining it with another account.

Two more rules keep player money apart. Section 29(b) requires every licensee to hold an account with an authorised financial institution registered in Kenya for all money from the licensed activity. Regulation 41(f) of the Gambling Control (Conduct of Gambling Operations) Regulations, 2026 (L.N. 112) requires online platforms to hold player funds in accounts separate from operational funds.

On revocation, L.N. 111 regulation 26(5) requires the licensee to take measures to safeguard player deposits, liabilities and personal data. Regulation 26(6) adds that where the Authority takes over the business, the licensee hands over its entire database in the format the Authority specifies.

Is there a guarantee fund for bettors?

No. The Act and the 2026 Licensing and Conduct Regulations create no compensation or guarantee fund that pays players when a bookmaker fails. The only fund defined in section 2 of the Act is the National Lottery Fund under the National Lottery Act, 2023.

The closest tool is the security in section 40. Every licensee lodges an insurance security bond or bank guarantee with the Authority, and section 40(2) says the Authority may use it to defray a licensee's liability arising from the licensed activity.

That wording leaves the decision with the Authority. The Act gives a player no direct claim on the bond and sets no order in which debts are paid from it.

Who do you contact, and in what order?

Start with the bookmaker, even if its website is down. Section 68(8) requires an online operator to keep a customer care centre within Kenya. Under L.N. 112 regulation 9(2), that centre must report matters raised by the public to the Authority within two days and refer anything unresolved after 72 hours, or earlier if you ask in writing.

Next, contact the Gambling Regulatory Authority. Section 10(m) gives it the function of receiving and deciding complaints from the public about games of chance. Its toll-free line is 0800-723-770, as shown on the regulator's website.

The complaints page on gra.go.ke offers a complaint form to hand in at the ACK Garden Annex offices, 7th floor, in Nairobi. The e-mail address printed there still uses the old BCLB domain, so confirm by phone where to send documents.

For a dispute arising out of online gambling, section 80 lets a party appeal to the Gambling Appeals Tribunal within 14 days from the date of the dispute. The regulation on exhaustion of remedies in L.N. 115 (regulation 18) says the Tribunal only takes a matter after the Authority's own mechanisms have dealt with it, and section 90 allows an appeal to the High Court within 14 days of a Tribunal decision.

Why does speed matter?

Several clocks run from dates you do not control. The 14 days in section 80 start from the date of the dispute, not from the day you notice the site has gone.

A voluntary wind-up gives the most warning. L.N. 112 regulation 96(1) requires at least 90 days' written notice to the Authority, and regulation 96(3) requires the Authority to publish the intended wind-up on its website; that window is the time to withdraw a balance while payments still run.

Revocation ends quickly once decided. Under L.N. 111 regulation 26(7), the licensee must surrender the licence and stop all licensed business within seven days of being notified.

Claims for prizes also expire. Section 70(5) ends a claim for an uncollected prize six months after the winnings were declared, and the penalties for late payment are covered in what to do when a bookmaker refuses to pay winnings.

Records to keep

Save proof of your balance before a site goes offline. Screenshots of the balance and bet history, the M-Pesa or bank messages for each deposit and withdrawal, and any e-mail or SMS from the operator all help.

Write down the company name and the licence details the site displayed. Section 36(3) requires an online licensee to display its licence on its platform, and you can match that name against the regulator's list with the guide to reading the GRA list of licensed bookmakers.

What happens to money in a dormant account?

A closure is not the only way a balance gets stuck. Section 77(1) requires a licensee to pay the balance out to the player when no transaction has been recorded on the account for three months.

If the player's whereabouts stay unknown for five years, section 77(2) presumes the money abandoned and the licensee must remit it to the Unclaimed Financial Assets Authority. Section 77(3) requires the licensee to keep a register of those remittances.

What this does not cover

Every protection above attaches to a Kenyan licence. Section 28(1) bars any gambling activity that is not licensed under the Act, and section 98 makes operating without a licence an offence carrying a fine of up to KES 3,000,000, up to three years in prison, or both for a first offence.

An unlicensed or offshore site has no licence for the Authority to suspend, no bond lodged under section 40 and no line on the published list. Its legal position is explained in foreign betting sites in Kenya: what the law says.

This page describes the law as gazetted. It is not legal advice on a particular claim.