New microchip-coated number plates to boost motorist protection
National Transport and Safety Authority director-general Francis Meja. PHOTO | FILE
What you need to know:
The tech-enhanced number plates will enable wireless transfer of information between it and police readers in real-time.
Motorists are set for enhanced protection from number plate fraudsters after the transport regulator awarded a tender for supply of high-tech stickers with microchips expected to tame forgery.
The stickers, known as third identifier, will carry all the information on the vehicle and the owner on the microchip including the chassis number and colour making it harder to duplicate unlike the number plates.
Number plate forgery is common exposing motorists to possible arrest when criminals use fake plates similar to those of an innocent car owner.
“The tender for that has been awarded and we hope that they (stickers) will be here in August so that we can start deploying them in September,” Francis Meja, the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) director-general said.
“We have seen criminals arrested with different number plates and it is happening because you can easily interchange the plates from one vehicle to another.
Mr Meja said they will start with the new vehicles that are coming into the country and gradually roll it out to the other vehicles already in the country.
A radio frequency identification (RFID) microchip will be embedded on the sticker to facilitate wireless transfer of information between it and mobile police readers.
The readers will be connected to NTSA servers and can relay information on the vehicle in real-time helping the law enforcers determine the authenticity of the vehicle’s registration.
Mr Meja said the third number plate — a sticker on the windscreen — is necessary for purposes of validation in the event that the front and rear plates are changed or covered in mud.
The sticker, which will have a life span of up to 10 years, cannot be removed without destroying it.
Microchip-coated vehicle number plates have been used in other countries to find stolen vehicles.
The stickers were originally to be deployed together with new-generation number plates but the tender for the plates is stuck in court.
Recently gazetted rules indicate that replacement of the sticker will cost Sh700 if it is defaced.
Mr Meja said that the third identifier is also necessary to deal with rising cases of fraudulent registration of vehicles.
He said that the stickers will be affixed before a vehicle can be released from any Container Freight Station (CFS).
PAYE Tax Calculator
Note: The results are not exact but very close to the actual.
