Its Sh20k or six months in jail if you don’t have digital number plates
The government has imposed a fine of Sh20,000 or a jail term of six months for motorists if they fail to apply for a new digital number plate in the next 18 months.
These new generation license plates will have a far more attractive font type that remains visible while looking a lot more modern.
Additionally, they’ll include a QR code, hologram, an NTSA-issued serial number with the front one being different from the back plate, and the Kenyan flag.
The plates which will cost Sh3,000, have inbuilt features that are identifiable by law enforcement agencies and are meant to assist in making car tracking easier.
The new number plates, which will be installed on cars, motorcycles, and trailers, are aimed at stopping the double registration of vehicles and taming unscrupulous car importers as the country moves to restore sanity in the motor industry.
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The rollout will begin with newly registered vehicles from the KDK series while replacement of the current plates is set to start on October 1, 2022.
Official data shows Kenya had 4.8 million registered vehicles in the country.
“Any person who contravenes any of the provisions in the traffic rules, which no specific penalty is provided, is liable for a fine not exceeding Sh20,000 or imprisonment for six months or both,” states the Traffic Act.
Kenyans are required to switch to the new digital plates within 18 months as directed by Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i.
“Ideally, we could have taken 12 months to complete this process as we can change number plates in a year but Kenyans do not want to be harassed so maybe we can do so in the next 18 months,” he said.
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The plates are linked to the vehicle chassis number with several inbuilt security features that are easily identifiable to law enforcement and comply with international standards.
“Commissioning of the new generation number plates marks a historic moment in securitising vehicle registration by eliminating loopholes exploited by financial fraudsters and unscrupulous motor vehicle importers,” said Dr Matiang’i.
The new number plates will cover 12 categories of vehicles in line with the legal notice 62 of 2016 and will feature a Chassis number, a hologram security feature that has in prints of the big 5 and the NTSA logo.
The new plates will solely be manufactured by the National Government.
“The work is being done by a multi-agency unit of the security sector and is part of the reforms initiated by President Uhuru Kenyatta after the 2019 Dusit attack,” he said.
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