More than 7,000 Kenyans have been issued with the new smart driving licenses, National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) has said.
Speaking during an interview, NTSA Director-General Francis Meja said the licences were mainly issued to public service vehicle (PSV) drivers since February, when the digital document was launched. Meja said the chip-empowered licence costs Sh3,000.
“We are now at 7,000 and the exercise has been rolled out to other towns such as Mombasa, Kisumu, Nakuru, Kisii, Eldoret and Nyeri. All you need to come with is a copy of your old driving licence, a copy of the national identity card, a Kenya Revenue Authority PIN, blood group and Sh3,000,” said Meja.
The e-driving licence is loaded with points that get deducted every time a driver commits a traffic offence, with NTSA withdrawing one's licence when the points are exhausted.
“At the moment, no preference is being given to anyone in the issuance of the licence. As long as you have the required documents and are qualified, the new generation driving licences are available in any of our centres,” Meja said.
The chip-empowered licences, widely used in the Western countries, will be loaded with 20 maximum points that are deducted progressively based on the magnitude of the offence committed.
Minor breaches such as overlapping will see one point deducted, while drivers will recover a single lost point if they are not found culpable of another offence in a period of one week.
Serious offences including drunk driving and speeding will lead to loss of more than 10 points, fines and other disciplinary actions such as withdrawal of a license for life.
“All drivers will be required to abide by the set regulations. The aim is not to punish anybody but to curb rising cases of road accidents,’ said Meja.
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