Over 300,000 vehicle owners in Kenya are required to buy new car identity stickers by October 1.
The stickers will cost Sh. 700 each. They are meant to make it hard for drivers to get away with traffic offences and help police recover stolen cars.
“Beginning October, our online portal will be updated to allow people to pay for the sticker before proceeding for their annual roadworthiness inspection,” Jacqueline Githinji, NTSA’s registration and licensing director,told a local daily. “These stickers will for now only be issued during inspection so motorists, whose vehicles were recently certified will get theirs when inspection is next due. We want to make this process painless.”
The National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) said the stickers – referred to as third identifiers – will be affixed on vehicle windscreens and will in an instant indicate whether a car is stolen, its insurance status and history of traffic offences.
The electronic chips come loaded with each vehicle’s details, including the number plate, model and chassis number, which are then linked to a central database.
Boda-bodas (motorbikes), tuk-tuks (three-wheeler taxis) and tractors have been exempted from the new rule. The NTSA inspects about 25,000 commercial vehicles per month.
Private motorists, though, will be required to acquire the stickers when renewing their annual insurance, with NTSA director-general, Francis Meja saying they are discussing the modalities of this system with the sector regulator.
NTSA plans to have all registered motor vehicles in the country (over two million) compliant by the end of next year.