Little Shuttle and SWVL will not be available for use beginning October 1, after the National Transport and Safety Authority(NTSA) blacklisted their operations.
In a statement sent to its customers on Monday, little shuttle travel company regretted the move by the transport authority to block its operations saying they had adhered to all regulations required.
“I would like to apologies to our riders that we would not be running this service from 1 October 2019, till we get a clearance from the relevant authorities,” read in part the statement by Kamal Budhabhatti, Chief Executive, Little.
The Kamal, in the statement, also regretted that they had made necessary changes in their applications to suit customers needs and added that their operations had proved that the transport industry can work effectively and in proper order.
“We have been running these services for the last three quarters, and we have proved that public transport can be operated in an efficient and profitable manner.
A manner that can bring sanity in the chaotic public transport in our city. Over several months, we have learnt a lot. We have made changes to our technology so that it works as expected.
We have been able to come up with the right ingredients to address the problem at hand. And I just hope that these efforts do not go in vain,” read his statement in part.
The CEO further questioned why the authorities had decided to shut down its operations questioning whether there might be a possible foul play by the transport cartels.
However, he urged the transport authority to open doors for negotiations adding that they were willing to have a dialogue any issue so that an amicable solution can be arrived at.
“…I was told that when Safaricom launched MPESA, there was no proper regulation on mobile money.
However, as it started helping Kenyans, Central Bank did not stop Safaricom, but they worked together to formulate a legal model. I would have appreciated a similar approach on this matter. And I pray that happens,” he said.
According to NTSA director-general Francis Meja, Little Shuttle and SWVL were illegally operating shuttle services without the required PSV licenses.
“The vehicles under these hailing app companies have acquired Tours Service License (TSL) but are engaging in commuter service within Nairobi, therefore, contravening the terms of the Tour Service License (TSL),” read the statement by Meja.