No M-Pesa Payment, please: Expressway users told

Motorists using the soon-to-be-launched Nairobi Expressway will not be allowed to pay via M-Pesa, the highway’s operators have announced.

Only cash and electronic card payment will instead be allowed in a bid to avoid traffic congestion at tolling points occasioned by authentication of mobile transactions.

“M-Pesa payment would result in traffic congestion at tolling points,” a spokesperson of Moja Expressway told Business Daily, “It is still in consideration. It will be there in the future.”

The 27-kilometre expressway that stretches from Mlolongo through Uhuru Highway to the James Gichuru Road junction in Westlands will be operated by Moja Expressway, a subsidiary of China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) which designed, financed and constructed the road.

Moja Expressway has at the same time announced a discount system for motorists making card payments who will load their cards with a minimum of Ksh.2,000 as an incentive to use the road.

Kenya National Highway Authority deputy director for corporate communication Samwel Kumba said motorists using Electronic Toll Cards on the road will get a five percent discount

Every time a motorist loads their electronic toll card with Ksh.2,000 points, they will be rewarded with a 5 percent discount.

At the same time, manual toll card users will be given a two percent discount when they load points worth Ksh.2,000 on their cards.

“The discount on both electronic and manual toll cards applies for as long as you are using the road at least for now. However, you must load your card with a minimum of Sh2,000 points,” Kenya National Highway Authority deputy director for corporate communication Samwel Kumba said.

To register for a manual tolling card, one needs their national ID card, Ksh.300 installation service charge. At least Ksh.1,000 must be loaded in points.

The electronic tolling card, on the other hand, requires one to have an ID, the logbook of the vehicle being registered and Ksh.1,000 installation service charge.

A minimum of Ksh2,000 must be loaded onto the card, which is faster to go through toll stations with.

Kumba noted that electronic card holders who load Ksh.5,000 worth of points will not pay an installation service charge.

“Road users can also pay via cash to use the road depending on the size of the vehicle,” he added.

The Ministry of Transport last month lifted the Nairobi Expressway's toll rates by 16 percent to reflect foreign exchange changes for the dollar-denominated charges following the weakening of the Kenyan Shilling.

As it stands, the base toll charge for using the Expressway from Mlolongo to the James Gichuru exit in Westlands is currently set at Ksh.360 while the cost of using the Expressway between the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) and Westlands is Ksh. 300.

The cost of using the road from the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) to the Museum Hill interchange is also set at Ksh. 300

Light vehicles with two axles are expected to pay the same rates as that of saloon cars (base toll rates) while heavy vehicles with four or more axles will pay five times the base toll rates meaning a heavy trailer will be paying Ksh.1,800 to move from Mlolongo to Westlands on the Expressway.

Bodabodas and tuk-tuks will remain banned on the Nairobi Expressway.