Looking for council parking attendants or displaying parking tickets on your windscreen will soon be a thing of the past as City Council of Nairobi (CCN) plans to fully embrace an electronic parking ticket payment system. The council yesterday launched the pilot phase of its e-payment system that would see motorists who park along Koinange Street pay for their parking tickets using their phones.

Motorists will first have to register from their phones to pay their parking fees. The vehicle owner will be required to send a text message with ‘Register*there identity card number*first name*last name’ to the 3032. The vehicle owner will then receive a mobile text message that contains their unique PIN number.

The vehicle owner will then have to register his or her car by sending an SMS with: ‘Add*Car*number plate*vehicle type (private car or canter)*pin’ to the number 3032. CCN has different categories of vehicles, thus it is important for motorists to correctly register their vehicle. The Council will also seek Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) services in confirming registered vehicle types.  After registration, a confirmation SMS will be sent to the motorist, stating that their vehicle has been registered. An individual can register more than one car.

To make payments, the owner of the vehicle will send a text message with: ‘Pay*Park*Vehicle Number Plate Number*on street or off street*Parking duration they are paying for ranging from 1 day to 3 months*PIN’ to the number 3032.

Currently, motorists can only pay through Airtel Money, Yu Cash and Orange Money. The council is still in consultation with M-Pesa on tariff issues.

Once motorists make their payments, a receipt will be sent to their phone showing the amount they paid, vehicle number plate.

As noted earlier, there won’t be displaying of parking tickets on your windscreen. Parking inspectors will check that payments were made by keying in your vehicle’s registration number into their system via their phones. They will then receive a confirmation message that you have paid or not.

In case you fail to pay and parking inspectors check if your vehicle’s parking has been paid for, a message will automatically be sent to a clamper with the details of your registration number and the street where you have parked.

The above registration system may seem complicated to some, but CCN intends to educate the public on how use the system.