Passenger Service Vehicles enforce cards for fare in Eastlands routes

NAIROBI, KENYA: Nine PSV Saccos with 410 vehicles plying Nairobi's Jogoo road route from Eastlands will begin refusing cash as payment for matatu fares from Monday evening.

The nine SACCOs - Royal Swift, Mwamba, Umoinner, Pin Point, Prime East, Compliant, C-Bet, ROG, and Oma - will, from today through to Wednesday, be working with 50 route managers, based at all bus stations, who will be boarding each matatu to check that all passengers have receipts issued from the on-board 1963 terminals.

The nine SACCOs have alerted the police, informing Nairobi County Police Commandant Benson Kibue of the changeover, in order to secure the support of the authorities in achieving a smooth transition.

The SACCOs have some of the largest fleets along the Jogoo Road route, and operates Kayole, Donholm, Umoja, Outer Ring, Civil Servants, Buruburu, and Uhuru Estate. Conductors on the cash lite matatus will be wearing 1963 T-shirts to aide commuters in identifying matatus that will only accept the 1963 cards as payment.

The 1963 cards are being distributed free, from all bus terminals, with registration requiring a national identification card, a valid phone number and date of birth information. Users can then load money onto their cards using M-PESA at no cost, thanks to a partnership with Safaricom.

From Wednesday, each 1963 matatu will have stickers inside giving SACCO hotline numbers for passengers to use in the event a conductor will not accept their 1963 fare card and demands cash.

"We are taking it upon ourselves to switch over to the cards, we want it to be  fast and smooth," said Mr Mwakio Ngale, General Manager of Fiber Space Limited, which owns and runs the 1963 card system.