The Bill seeks to ensure passengers establish whether a matatu or bus has undergone the required assessment before boarding. Passengers could get greater access to information on the safety compliance of public service vehicles under proposed changes to Kenya’s transport regulations.
The National Transport and Safety Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2026, seeks to introduce a formal system for licensing and regulating conformity assessors responsible for checking whether public service vehicle bodies meet prescribed technical standards. The proposed law, currently at the public participation stage, could provide the basis for a more transparent system in which passengers are able to establish whether a matatu or bus has undergone the required assessment before boarding.
The Bill defines conformity assessment as an evaluation to establish whether specific requirements relating to a motor vehicle have been fulfilled. A conformity assessor would be responsible for verifying that technical standards have been applied in the design, manufacture and installation of a PSV body.
While the Bill does not specifically require the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) to create a passenger-facing verification platform, the proposed regulatory framework opens the door to making compliance information more accessible to the public.
The proposal comes amid concerns from passengers that they have little ability to establish whether the vehicle they are boarding has been properly assessed. In a submission to the Senate committee on roads chaired by Marsabit legislator Mohamed Chute, petitioner Juma Patrick Kurwa called for a system that would allow travellers to enter or scan a vehicle's registration number and establish whether it has a valid conformity assessment and other regulatory approvals.
“For example, a passenger should be able to enter or scan a vehicle's registration number and establish whether the vehicle has a valid conformity assessment and other relevant regulatory approvals,” said Kurwa. He added that such a system could be delivered through an application, USSD, website or SMS, giving passengers a simple way of checking the regulatory status of a vehicle before travel.
The Bill gives NTSA powers to prescribe the criteria for conformity assessments and requires the Authority to designate conformity assessors every three years. It also provides for periodic audits of assessors to ensure compliance with the law.