PSV company makes U-turn on cashless fares

A MOA Compliant bus. The firm had stopped accepting cash. Photo/Jeff Angote  

By NEVILLE OTUKI

A matatu operator has made a U-turn on the cashless payment of fares following passenger flight to rival companies.

MOA Compliant had on Tuesday stopped accepting cash as it embraced the cashless system ahead of the July 1 deadline set by the Transport ministry for all public service operators.

But the firm, which operates on Jogoo Road, Eastleigh and Ngong Road in Nairobi, has opened a window for commuters to use both cash and cards for fare.

“We made losses on Tuesday as customers without the cards opted to use other matatus,” said a supervisor at MOA who sought anonymity.

“We now accept cash payments which run parallel to the cards. We resorted to move early so that by the time the government’s deadline comes our commuters are ready.”

The reversal offers insight on commuters’ reception to the digital fare payment plan, which is part of a wider strategy by the government to streamline the chaotic matatu industry.

The system, among other things, is meant to curb erratic increases of fares based on weather patterns, traffic flow and other considerations and enable the Kenya Revenue Authority to collect taxes from the industry.

A number of firms including Safaricom (Lipa na M-Pesa), 1963 Jinice, Google in partnership with Equity (Beba Pay), a Hong Kong firm Tap-to-Pay that has partnered with the Kenya Bus Service (Abiria Card) have introduced cashless payment systems.