Online taxi hailing services such as Uber will pay as much as Sh300,000 annually as Nairobi tries to maximise its revenue collection.
The Finance Bill passed by the Nairobi Assembly on Tuesday requires large transport network companies such as Uber, Taxify and Little Cab, among others, to start remitting taxes. Passenger fares are not expected to increase.
The maximum levy will be Sh300,000 anually for companies with more than over 100 vehicles. Companies with 51 to 100 vehicles will pay Sh100,000. The minimum levey will be Sh50,000 for companies with 50 vehicles and less.
Some MCAs argued that since the companies have created employment, there is no need for them to generate tax revenue.
“It is unfair that a big percentage of the profits goes to foreign countries yet they use our roads and pollute the air, and the county which maintains the roads doesn’t get anything,” MCA Umoja Mark Mugambi said.
Budget Committee chairman Robert Mbatia sought to allay fears that the tax would be passed on to passengers in higher fares.
“When you narrow it down to individual cars using the app, it amounts to Sh75 per car in a year and this should not be a reason for them to hike charges,” the chairman said.The Finance Bill also factored in the reduction of parking fees from the current Sh300 to Sh200.
Mbatia said reducing parking fees was fuelled by the need to increase compliance and hence revenue.
“The biggest challenge over the years is non-compliance by motorists and lack of enforcement from county officials. The Sh200 is meant to encourage majority of the motorists to comply with ease,” he added.
The assembly scrapped garbage collection fees for households and schools proposed by the county treasury.
It had proposed a fee of Sh500 per household in high-end states and the CBD, Sh300 for households in middle-income estates and Sh100 for informal settlements.
The assembly scrapped a proposed Sh1,000 fees to pitch tents in central and city parks for lunch time preaching.
The MCAs, however, passed tougher penalties for advertisers who default in payment for billboards, wall wraps, sky signs, clocks, LED screens and hoarding safety screens. If they are removed by City Hall, they will pay Sh500,000, up from Sh100,000.
Those seeking to rent public toilets within the CBD will pay Sh30,000, up from Sh20,000. Renting the facilities outside CBD will cost Sh10,000 per year.
Hawkers, shoe shiners, street vendors (newspapers, sweets, and beverages) will pay Sh2,500 every year. Travelers seeking yellow fever vaccinations will pay Sh2,000, up from Sh1,500.
The Bill is awaiting Governor Mike Sonko’s signature. It was tabled after the Budget committee made a raft of changes to the original document presented by the Treasury. MCAs said they want to ease the burden on Wanjiku.
The budget says politicians, preachers and corporations conducting business on the streets and in estates will be charged.