This archive report was first published on 30 September 2019.
Published on September 30, 2019, the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) suspended vehicles operating under bus hailing app companies Little Shuttle and SWVL.
The suspension was due to the companies' illegal operation of shuttle services without the required Public Service Vehicle (PSV) licenses.
According to NTSA Director General Francis Meja, the companies were using Tours Service Licenses (TSL) to operate commuter services within Nairobi, which is a violation of the PSV Regulations.
NTSA stated that the vehicles under these hailing app companies had acquired TSL but were engaging in commuter services, thereby contravening the terms of the license.
The authority also revealed that the two companies had not registered their vehicles with NTSA as required by Section 26 of the Transport and Safety Act No. 33 of 2012.
NTSA gave these reasons for blacklisting the specific vehicles operating under Little Shuttle and SWVL and invalidating their respective TSLs.
However, NTSA has indicated that it will cooperate with the two hailing app companies should they seek to comply with the PSV Regulations to return to the roads to proceed with commuter services.
