Ahead of the Kenyan government’s July ban on Cash payments for bus fares, Safaricom has registered over 1,300 matatus and taxi cabs on its Lipa na M-Pesa platform.
This statement was made by Safaricom corporate affairs director Nzioka Waita in a recent interview with BusinessDailyAfrica
According to Mr. Waita, “Over 1,300 PSVs and taxis have signed up and are using our Lipa Na M-pesa payment solution. Lipa Na M-pesa can act as both a stand-alone payment system or to be integrated as the payment component to an existing point of sale system,”The government has gazetted regulations that will outlaw the use of cash for bus fare payments staring July 2014.
The move is expected to both help the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) to collect data on tax compliance in the sector, as well as reduce theft of cash by crew and bribery to traffic police officers to make it more investor friendly.The Economic Survey 2013 values Kenya’s road passenger transport business, which is dominated by matatus, buses, motorcycles (boda bodas) and three-wheelers popularly known as tuk tuks, at Sh205 billion.
The new regulations were contained in a legal notice titled National Transport and Safety Authority (Operation of Public Service Vehicles) which was published in September 2013.
Mr Waita said that there needs to be strong legal backing for the cashless system if it is to be a success.
“From the regulatory perspective, it will be essential for the Government to follow up this directive with adequate legislation that will underpin what is for all intents and purposes a very significant shift in the approach to revenue collection and accountability for public transport services in Kenya,” said Mr Waita.
