Uganda’s newly imposed gaming regulation law has possibly made PulseBet shut down its operations there.
PulseBet, a division of SportTech Entertainment division, launched in the Ugandan market in 2022 to offer the nation’s most outstanding sports betting service. Although they succeeded for a while, the betting site will cease operations.
In a press release, the management of SportTech Entertainment Uganda said, “Take notice that SportTech Entertainment Uganda Limited trading as PulseBet has notified the National Lotteries and Gaming Regulatory Board of the closure of business operations in Uganda. The said operator will cease to conduct betting business in Uganda by May 31, 2023.”
The press statement insufficiently outlined the reasons Pulsebet would be ceasing operations. But it’s probably due to the ongoing tax policy revision. The Ugandan parliament just passed the 2023 Lotteries and Gaming Amendment Bill, which would raise the 20% tax on online gaming to 30%.
However, The vice head of the finance committee, Hon. Jan Pacutho, made it clear that the amended tax policy only affects game winnings, not the amount staked. Sports betting will continue to be taxed at a 20% rate.
The new online gaming regulation attempts to stop revenue leakage. According to Pacutho, “To plug this revenue leakage, the measure proposes to remove the 15% withholding tax on payments for winnings of gaming and instead increase the gaming tax to a rate of 30% across the gaming sector.”