Kenya: Govt authority confirms enactment of long awaited digital taxi regulation
" Digital Taxi regulations are in force, CS Murkomen says" 5 May 2023
Cabinet Secretary for Roads and Transport Kipchumba Murkomen has allayed speculations over the state of the Transport Network Companies (Owners, Drivers and Passengers) Regulations, 2022.
Speaking during the official launch of Yego Mobility Limited at a Nairobi hotel, CS Murkomen said the regulations which are meant to guide the operations in the digital taxi-hailing sector were Gazetted on 22 June 2022, and came into force in February this year upon approval by Parliament.
“The Regulations make it mandatory for every company before being licenced to be a registered company, be tax compliant, be registered by the Data Commissioner as a data controller and have a physical office in Kenya,” stated the CS. He further noted that it is now mandatory for a licenced transport network company to sign an agreement with the vehicle owner before the vehicle is allowed to operate with a transport network company while the driver of the vehicle must hold a PSV licence and must have subscribed to transport network services. In an effort to shield the driver from exploitation, the Regulations have set the maximum amount of commission paid by the driver or owner of the taxi as 18pc per total earnings per trip. “It is also mandatory for the network company to follow regulations on subscription, activation and deactivation of service. This is meant to prevent cases where the transport network company terminates services of a driver without notice,” he said. CS Murkomen directed the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) to step up the verification of company compliance with the Regulations before licence renewal.