Two months ago NTSA (National Transport and Safety Authority) announced a roll out of smart driving licences.
NTSA signed a Ksh 2.1 billion contract with the National Bank of Kenya for their supply. This contract will see 500,000 licences produced in a year, according to NTSA director general Francis Mejja. He also said 200,000 pieces will be produced in the first two months. “These licences will be small, more or less like an ATM card and will have high-security features. It will have a chip that will contain the driver’s bio-metrics”.
The smart licence is meant to curb law breaking drivers on the roads. It will contain an electronic chip that contains the driver’s details (photo, name, ID number, and date of birth) and his or her driving behavior, i.e. traffic offences. The details on the licence will only be readable by gadgets managed by NTSA officials. According to NTSA, the electronic chip will also contain point that are inversely proportional to the crimes committed by the driver. i.e. The more the crimes committed the lesser the points until the card is rescinded.
Public announcements on how to acquire the smart licence will be made in due course, announced NTSA.
According to NTSA director of road safety, Njeri Waithaka, all Kenyans will be required to have the new licence that will be launched in phases to give time to people who have renewed their tradition licences for several months.
The main reason NTSA is rushing to introduce these licences in the urgent need to curb rogue drivers and bring road safety on Kenyan Roads.