SportPesa mega jackpot customers felt the effects of the government's directive in the last week's payouts.
The firm paid out a record low bonus since the introduction of the jackpot four years ago. This comes after its pay-bill numbers were suspended on allegations of tax evasion.
"Congratulations to everyone who took the opportunity to play the #SportPesaMegaJackpot. The winning combination is: 1,2,X,1,2,X,1,1,2,X,2,2,2,X,X,X,1. Here are the bonus payouts 13 – Ksh. 74,823 EACH12 – Ksh. 18,447 EACH," SportPesa tweeted.
Betting Control and Licensing Board (BCLB) acting director Liti Wambua wrote to affected mobile money transfer service providers directing them to shutdown pay-bill numbers of affected betting firms.
A letter to Safaricom demanded compliance by Thursday, last week.
“Consequently, we request you to suspend their pay-bills and shortcodes until otherwise advised,” Wambua said in the letter seen by Reuters.
Last Wednesday, Safaricom wrote to BCLB through TripleOKLaw Advocates seeking clarifications on how to implement the pay-bill closure.
“As the directive to shut down Paybill, SMS and shortcodes will no doubt deny the gamers access to their funds, we are instructed to propose that gamers or depositors be allowed to access their funds so that there is no prejudice to such persons which may have the unintended consequence of inviting undesirable legal action against our client,” the law firm said as reported by The East African.
However, the betting giant has maintained that it is tax compliant.
"We are tax compliant and we will work with key stakeholders to ensure everything is back to normal," SportPesa CEO Ronald Karauri said.