NTSA disowns ‘deal’ with Helb on renewal of driving licences
The National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) has refuted claims that motorists who have not repaid their university loans will not be able to renew their licences.
The authority made the clarification on its official Twitter handle.
“NTSA wish to clarify that it does not have a requirement pegging the renewal of driving license to the repayment of HELB loan.CC @HELBpage,” tweeted the authority.
WORRIED LOT
Kenyan motorists were a worried lot following media reports that a defaulting motorist would only be allowed to renew their licences after either clearing the loans or making an undertaking of repayment.
Consumer Federation of Kenya (Cofek) led the condemnation, opposing the proposal.
“NTSA is not and cannot be a debt collector for Helb. If Helb is unable to discharge its mandate, it can request credit reference bureaus to assist them,” said Cofek secretary general Stephen Mutoro in a statement.
“The two institutions have different jurisdictions and mandate. They are not even under one sector or Ministry and even if they were, and if need be, they can only be merged by way of amending the respective legislations and collapse them into one.”
STRUCK A DEAL
Helb Chief Executive Officer Charles Ringera had told Daily Nation that the board had struck a deal with NTSA that could have seen defaulters repay their loans first or commit themselves to doing so before the licences are renewed.
“We recently compared driving licence holders and Helb defaulters. Surprisingly, we matched 8,000 records of driving licence holders who are not repaying,” he said.
“We have agreed with the NTSA that one will not renew a driving licence this year if he or she is a defaulter.”
