Friday, March 29, 2024

NTSA: We have given 7,000 motorist smart licenses

More than 7,000 motorists have acquired Kenya’s new digital driving licences, barely five months after the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) began issuing them.

NTSA director-general Francis Meja said in an interview that a large number of the chip-empowered licences, costing Sh. 3,000, have been issued to public service vehicle (PSV) drivers.

PSV drivers have been linked to most of the deadly accidents that have claimed about 1,348 in the five months of this year.

“We are now at 7,000 and the exercise has been rolled out to other towns such as Mombasa, Kisumu, Nakuru, Kisii, Eldoret and Nyeri. All you need to come with is a copy of your old driving licence, a copy of the national identity card, a Kenya Revenue Authority PIN, blood group and Sh. 3,000,” said Mr Meja.

The new generation e-driving licence is loaded with points that get deducted every time a motorist commits a traffic offence. Any licence that is emptied of points is ultimately withdrawn from use.

The NTSA has also promised to temporarily confiscate licences of offenders, charge spot fines or send offending motorists back to driving school for refresher courses while repeat offenders will have their licences permanently withdrawn.

“At the moment, no preference is being given to anyone in the issuance of the licence. As long as you have the required documents and are qualified, the new generation driving licences are available in any of our centres,” Mr Meja said.

The digital licences, widely used in the West, are loaded with 20 points that are deducted progressively at a rate proportional to the offence committed.

A single point is deducted for minor breaches such as overlapping, over and above the levying of fines. Drivers will recover a single lost point if they stay for a week without committing an offence.

Serious offences such as drunk driving and speeding will however result in loss of more than 10 points, fines and a raft of other disciplinary measures including loss of a license for life.

This report was first published in the Business Daily.

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