Betway is now back in business in Kenya’s online gaming market. Earlier this month, the country’s Betting Control and Licensing Board (BCLB) reinstated the company’s license with one condition: that Betway agree to a controversial 20 percent tax on sports bet winnings.
Betway returns to the legal market after a month-long absence.
Previously, the 20 percent tax was applicable only to the amount won on a sports bet. Under the BCLB’s new proposals, the tax will now apply to the total stake, a decision that led to legal challenges and the revocation of 26 other operators’ licenses. The BCLB has taken a tough stance on the matter, and has said it will continue until the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has recover billions in alleged unpaid industry taxes.
In addition, the regulator ordered three of Kenya’s biggest mobile payment providers to stop processing payments for the 27 bookmakers.
On its Twitter account, Betway said the tax would be implemented to ensure “full compliance” for current taxation rules and laws as confirmed in a separate statement.
In related news, a decision to grant Casinos Austria International (CAI) online betting and casino licenses has been annulled by Belgium’s Council of State, which could cause more problems for Betway, a CAI sub-licensee.
According to iGamingBusiness.com, CAI, which operates the Grand Casino Brussels Visage, was one of a number of operators to have its iGaming license challenged by gaming hall operator Rocoluc in September 2015. At the heart of the case is the fact that Betway, via its dot.be domain, offers both online casino games, under CAI’s A+ license, and sports betting, under an F1+ license. Rocoluc has argued that such “accumulated access” is discriminatory.
The Council of State annulled the decision to award licenses to CAI, meaning they have not been revoked. As a result, Betway is unlikely to immediately go offline, but its position is precarious.
