A Kenyan lottery operator has sued the government over its plans to hike gambling taxes by 35% starting next year.

On Thursday, Business Daily Africa reported that the Pambazuka National Lottery (PNL) had filed a High Court lawsuit against Kenya’s Betting Control and Licensing Board, the National Assembly, the Kenya Revenue Authority Commissioner-General and the Attorney General over the gambling tax hikes approved earlier this year.

PNL’s lawsuit claims the tax hikes – which replaced variable tax rates on betting, gaming, lottery and sweepstakes operators with a uniform 35% rate – were unconstitutional, in that parliament approved them as part of a national budget, not standalone legislation, which would have required greater public input.

The tax hike is set to take effect on January 1, 2018 and PNL’s lawyers claim that PNL and other Kenyan gambling operators “will likely suffer closure as well as collapse” if the Court doesn’t act before that date.