You’ll lose your licence, NTSA warns matatu operators hiking fares

Matatu operators who have arbitrarily increased fares risk losing their road licences, the road safety authority has warned.

In a statement on Tuesday, National Transport and Safety Authority director general Francis Meja said his office has received complaints from commuters over the misdemeanor.

“We therefore reiterate that an operator risks revocation of their road service licence should the authority receive a report of such an incidence,” Meja said.

This, he said, is one of the actions the authority may undertake in line with Section 30 of the NTSA Act No 33 of 2012 to ensure fares charged by operators are reasonable.

Operators, especially in Nairobi, are notorious for increasing fares during peak hours when it rains or when there is a transport crisis as was the case on Monday, when the ban on matatus in the CBD took effect. The ban was, however, lifted to allow for consultation between City Hall and operators.

It’s not uncommon for routes that  usually charge Sh20 to hike fares to Sh50 or Sh60 under any of the above circumstances, while matatus on routes whose maximum fare is Sh80 can charge up to Sh200.

Read: Long walk, chaos, traffic jams as matatu ban takes effect

More: [VIDEO] Commuters stranded as CBD matatu ban takes effect

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