A few weeks ago, the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) suspended the operations of mass transit services SWVL and Little Shuttle over non-compliance in Kenya.
The two companies which operate a number of buses in Kenya’s capital have received great support from the commuters. However, the companies found themselves on the wrong side of the law after NTSA accused them of operating public transport operations without proper licensing.
The NTSA wanted the two companies to register as matatu SACCOs, a move that didn’t sit well with the two operators. Following this suspension, Little Shuttle took some time off the road and only returned the other day with a new fleet of 8-seater shuttles as opposed to the big buses.
SWVL has today sent a message to its customers alerting them of a disruption in their services.
In a text message seen by Gadgets Africa, SWVL states that they intend to fully comply with NTSA’s orders without giving further details. The company does also warn that their services will be disrupted in some routes, which could mean that SWVL won’t be fully out of the road just yet.
Unlike Little Shuttle whose fleet of vehicles were all registered as Tourist Service cars (TSV), SWVL has a mixture of both TSV and PSV (Public Service Vehicles) cars.
From the look of things, the TSVs are out of the road while the PSVs are the ones left operational.
We reached out to the SWVL Kenya office for a comment but at the time of publishing, we were yet to get any.
As for now, we just have to wait and see how things turn out for SWVL since Little Shuttle really took a hit from their short hiatus.
Featured Image Courtesy: Gadgets Africa
This story was first published on www.gadgets-africa.com
