Kenyan Sues NTSA Over Inflated Number Plate Charges From Ksh3,050 To Ksh3,750
A new storm is brewing for the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA), as a constitutional petition filed in Kenya’s High Court challenges the agency’s alleged unlawful increase in the cost of reflective number plates.
Former Mavoko Constituency MP aspirant and human rights advocate Michael Musembi Wambua filed the petition on August 21, accusing the body of arbitrarily raising fees without public participation or a valid explanation.
Wambua expressed serious concerns about the NTSA’s practices, citing a period between September 2023 and March 2024 in which the agency allegedly raised the fee for reflective number plates from Ksh3,050 to Ksh3,750.
The country is not experiencing a shortage of number plates. We have 102,000 uncollected plates across NTSA offices.
— NTSA KENYA (@ntsa_kenya) August 16, 2024
Motor vehicle dealers and individual motor vehicle owners are currently picking up their plates from the centers they identified during the application process. pic.twitter.com/ez26G2bA11
The petitioner claims that this 25% increase was implemented without any notice or public consultation, as required by law, and was later reversed to the original amount without any transparency.
The petition highlights what the petitioner describes as the NTSA’s “arbitrary and opaque” actions, claiming that the authority violated the law by levying illegal charges.
This abrupt and unexplained increase, followed by a sudden return to the original fee, has many Kenyans questioning the authority’s operations.
Wambua is not only seeking accountability; he is also demanding that the NTSA be held accountable for what he calls a fraudulent act.
The petition further requests that the Auditor General conduct a forensic audit of all transactions involving the fee increase during the specified period.
The petitioner also wants the NTSA to refund all extra amounts allegedly collected fraudulently from motorists.
The controversy over number plate fees stems from a May incident in which, according to some of the receipts attached to the petition, some Kenyans were charged Ksh700 more.
In May 2024, the NTSA denied that it had raised the charges, stating that the cost remained at Ksh3,050.
Despite the agency’s denial, many motorists expressed frustration, claiming that they had been charged Ksh3,750 on the e-Citizen platform, sparking widespread speculation and dissatisfaction.
Wambua’s petition also asks the NTSA to publish a comprehensive list of all services, charges, and levies available through the e-Citizen platform.
He claims that the lack of transparency in the NTSA’s operations jeopardizes Kenyans’ socioeconomic rights, as they face unjustified financial burdens.
The NTSA has been given fourteen days to respond to the petition. The case is scheduled to resume on October 8, 2024, when the High Court will issue additional directives.
By the time of publication, NTSA had not responded to questions posed by different press through email.
Kenyan Sues NTSA Over Inflated Number Plate Charges From Ksh3,050 To Ksh3,750
Credit to the petitioner and maybe he can also question KPLC billing and dubious add ons? Well done Sir