Nairobi county hopes e-payments for parking will seal loopholes as it looks to meet the collection target of KSh2.2 billion (US$25.3 million) for the 2014/15 financial year set out in the County Fiscal Strategy Paper.
HumanIPO reported earlier this month Nairobi county governor Dr Evans Kidero had signed an agreement with online payment platform JamboPay in a move to stamp out corruption in revenue collection in Kenya’s capital.
The Daily Nation reports the county currently collects KSh200 million (US$2.3 million) in parking revenues, but hopes to collect much more under the new programme, which will see motorists use plastic cards and mobile money to settle their parking fees, with their payment details captured in a system.
“We’ve taken them through the systems we apply. What they are doing is capturing all parking areas in the city and doing other groundwork necessary for their system. We’ve given them all the help they require and what is left is for them to give us a date when the implementation will begin,” accountant in charge of car parks Tom Tinega told Nation.
Electronic ticketing and enhanced fees could see parking become the second highest revenue earner for City Hall, accounting for more than 15 per cent of internally generated income.
Kenya has already embraced e-payments in the public transport industry, with MasterCard and Visa having already launched services, while HumanIPO reported in September Safaricom was working on introducing a Lipa na M-Pesa service for Kenya’s popular matatu public transport industry.
Google’s “tap and go” Beba Pay card, in conjunction with Equity Bank, and the Kenya Bus Abiria Card are also active in the market.
