What a licensed betting site in Kenya must show on its pages

A licensed betting site in Kenya has to show its licence, its betting terms and its responsible gambling messages. The rules sit in the Gambling Control Act, 2025 and in the Regulations as gazetted on 30 June 2026. This page lists each item with the section behind it, so you can use it alongside the steps in how to check if a betting site is licensed in Kenya.

Does a betting site have to display its licence?

Yes. Section 36(3) of the Gambling Control Act, 2025 says that a holder of an online gambling licence "shall display the license issued under this Act in their online platform". Section 36(1) sets the general duty behind it: a licence must be displayed at a place visible to the public for as long as it is valid.

Section 36(3) does not say where on the platform the licence must appear, how large it must be or what words go with it. If you do not see it on the home page, check the footer, the about page and the terms and conditions.

What does a Kenyan licence show?

The Licensing Regulations (L.N. 111) print licence templates in their First Schedule. The bookmaker licence template carries a licence number, the company name, the trading name, a physical address, the forms of bookmaking, a validity period with "from" and "to" dates, the date of issue and the words "issued by: Director General".

Those fields are what a displayed licence can be compared against. A company name, a trading name and a licence number are also what the regulator's published list carries, as the section on the list below explains.

The length of a licence depends on its category. Under L.N. 111 r.22 and the Fourth Schedule, an online gambling licence runs for one year, for new licences and renewals alike.

Which terms and rules must the site publish?

Regulation 22 of the Conduct of Gambling Operations Regulations (L.N. 112) covers the terms of a bookmaker. Under r.22(2) they must use simple language, state every significant condition that may affect your decision to take part, and must not mislead about the winnings or the manner of participation.

The terms must stay readily accessible to the public for the duration of play (r.22(3)), with clear instructions on how and where to find them (r.22(5)). Every promotional item must carry a clear statement that terms and conditions apply (r.22(4)).

A licensee may not amend or vary its terms without the prior approval of the Authority (r.22(6)). Regulation 23 then requires odds, rules and terms to be clearly displayed for each bet. It also bars any change to the terms of a bet once it is accepted, except as the Act and the Regulations permit.

Two more duties come from the Act. Section 72(6) requires a licensee to make available to a player all the rules of its games and the particulars of any processing fee the player may incur. For online games, L.N. 112 r.45(1) adds that the rules must be displayed on the platform before a bet is placed.

What must the approved terms contain?

Under L.N. 112 r.4(1), a licensee submits its terms and conditions to the Authority for approval. Regulation 4(2) lists what they must include, and these items matter most to a bettor:

• the name and full physical address of the promoter;
• the paybill numbers, shortcodes and USSD numbers used for operations;
• eligibility restrictions and the rules on registration and player accounts;
• the method of paying winnings, with the eligible taxes and statutory deductions;
• account suspension and closure;
• complaints and dispute resolution mechanisms;
• data collection and privacy statements under the data protection laws.

If a site's terms leave out the company's physical address or its paybill numbers, hold them up against r.4(2). A missing item is worth a written question to customer care before you deposit.

Which responsible gambling messages are required?

Regulation 94(1) of L.N. 112 requires a licensee to display messages on responsible gaming on its online platforms as well as in its premises. Under r.94(2) it must publish its policies and procedures for promoting responsible gambling. Regulation 94(3) adds that information about responsible gambling and help for problem gamblers must be prominently displayed where gambling takes place.

The site must also give you tools. Regulation 84 lists deposit limits on a daily, weekly and monthly basis, loss, session and expenditure limits, reality-check pop-ups showing how long you have played, and an easy option to self-exclude for at least twenty-four hours, linked to the national self-exclusion register.

Regulation 67(3) requires self-exclusion on an online platform to work in real time. Where to get support outside the site is set out on our page on help with gambling and player limits in Kenya.

What must a betting advert on the site say?

The Advertising Regulations (L.N. 114) define an advertisement in r.2 as any communication that promotes participation in gambling, including by electronic or digital media. A banner that invites you to bet fits that wording.

For an approved advert, L.N. 114 r.8(c) lists the content. It must show the licence number, a responsible gambling message that includes "gambling is addictive" or "play responsibly", the licensee's name and address and its customer-care number. It must also give a toll-free helpline or counselling website and the words "authorized and regulated by the Gambling Regulatory Authority".

Which company and contact details should you find?

Only a company can hold a licence. Section 29(a) of the Act limits licences to a body corporate in which Kenyan citizens hold at least thirty per cent of the shares. Section 29(b) requires an account with an authorised financial institution registered in Kenya for all money from the licensed activity.

The brand has a legal footing too. Under L.N. 111 r.29, a licensee must register the name it trades under as a trademark and submit the certificate to the Authority within thirty days of being licensed.

Section 68(8) requires an online operator to keep a customer care centre within Kenya to monitor and respond to consumers. Under L.N. 112 r.9(2) that centre must resolve complaints before they reach the Authority, report any matter raised by the public to the Authority within two days, and refer anything unresolved after seventy-two hours, or on your written request, to the Authority.

So a licensed site should give you a company name, a physical address and a way to reach customer care in Kenya. If a complaint stalls, the next steps are in how to complain about a betting company in Kenya.

How do you compare the site with the regulator's list?

The Gambling Regulatory Authority publishes one list at gra.go.ke, headed "Licensed Gaming Companies for the Trading Period 2025/26". It has 187 rows and eight columns: No., Operators Name, Trading Name, BK, PG, PL, STATUS and DOMAINS. The page was last modified on 19 March 2026, according to the site's own content API.

Match the company name on the site with Operators Name, the brand with Trading Name and the web address with DOMAINS. The licence number goes against the column headed BK, which carries bookmaker licence numbers, although the page does not explain the abbreviation; the BK licence and what its number means are covered separately.

Each column is explained in how to read the GRA list of licensed bookmakers, and the rows with a BK number appear on our page of licensed bookmakers from the regulator's list. One caution applies to dates: under L.N. 111 r.30, licences issued under the repealed Act continued only for sixty days after the Regulations were published on 30 June 2026, so a current licence may be newer than the list.

What does the law leave optional?

Some things you see on betting sites are not required by these texts. The Act and the Licensing, Conduct and Advertising Regulations do not prescribe a logo, badge or seal for a betting website, so a regulator logo on a page proves nothing by itself.

The texts also set no position, size or format for the online licence display. Expiry dates are another gap: the register of licences kept under s.39(1) records them and is open to the public on payment of a prescribed fee (s.39(2)), but the list published online shows none.

A list of payment methods on the home page is not required either. Paybill numbers and shortcodes belong in the approved terms under r.4(2)(e), so the terms are the place to look for them.

What this page does not cover

This page covers what the law says a betting site must show. It does not cover how fast a site must pay, how tax appears on a payout or what to do when a site will not pay. Each of those subjects has its own guide on this site.