City motorists face Sh400 daily parking fee

Private motorists in Nairobi may soon start paying double the daily parking fee as City Hall is set to re-introduce zonal rates.

The charges will see daily parking fees in Nairobi’s city centre and Kijabe Street double from the current Sh200.

Currently, motorists in the capital pay a flat rate of Sh200 per day irrespective of where they have parked.

However, according to Nairobi City County Finance Bill 2021, set for debate today, motorists parking in Zone I covering the city centre and Kijabe Street will have to part with Sh400 every 24 hours.

For Zone II— covering Westlands, Upper Hill, Community, Ngara, Highridge, Industrial area, Gigiri, Kilimani, Yaya centre, Milimani, Hurlingham, Lavington, Karen and Eastleigh— the charge will be Sh300.

For Zone IV, which covers areas bordering other metropolitan counties, the charge will be Sh100 while for Zone III— which includes all areas not in Zones I,II, and IV—Sh200 will be levied.

Court order

The announcement of the return of the zonal parking charges by the Ann Kananu-led administration comes even amidst a court order halting the increment by previous administrations.

This after the Consumer Federation of Kenya (Cofek) in 2019 successfully went to court to stop a similar move that year. The orders were extended in April this year for an unknown period.

However, Nairobi County Assembly Budget and Appropriations committee chairperson Robert Mbatia argued that the court order does not stop the county government from implementing the new charges.

“The Finance Act of 2015, which was revised in the financial year ended June 30, 2019 was never stopped by the court,” said Mr Mbatia.

For seasonal tickets, private vehicles will pay Sh7,000 per month, Sh18,000 every three months or Sh32,000 for six months, which rises to Sh55,000 annually.

Online application taxis will be required to deduct parking fee from source for all vehicles on their platform every month.

For buses, which are not matatus, the charge will be Sh1,000 per day, same as for lorries weighing between three and 10 tonnes while trailers will be levied Sh3,000.

For on-street parking in residential areas not included in the city centre and other areas, buses and lorries will pay Sh500 while trailers will still pay Sh3,000. Loss of tickets will attract a charge of Sh1,000 per ticket whether off-street or seasonal.

“The new levies will be considered by the assembly today (Tuesday), and once approved, will take effect once Governor Kananu assents to the bill or after 14 days of the publication of the bill in the Kenya Gazette,” he added.

The new levies will also see parking at the Machakos Country Bus cost at least Sh150 even as City Hall introduces offloading charges.

Parking at the Country Bus station will attract a Sh150 charge for the first hour and Sh50 every 15 minutes of extra hours.

Sh200 per day

On the other hand, using parking slots for offloading will attract a charge of Sh200 per day for pickups and saloon cars, Sh300 for canters, Sh500 for lorries and Sh1,000 for trailers.

However, it will be a relief for matatu operators as matatus paying for seasonal stickers through registered saccos will get discounts ranging between 27 and 34 percent on current charges.

Fourteen-seater matatus will pay Sh3,650 per month, Sh10,220 per quarter, Sh17,520 for half year and Sh37,960 annually after getting a discount of 27 percent. They have been paying a monthly seasonal parking fee of Sh5,000.

For minibuses or 42-seaters, the fee will be Sh5,280 per month rising to Sh14,520 quarterly, Sh26,400 for half year and Sh47,520 annually after receiving a discount of 34 percent.

A discount of 28 percent will be given to 43 and above seaters with the operators paying Sh7,200 per month, Sh18,720 for three months rising to Sh34,560 for six months and Sh61,920 annually.

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