A shortage of number plates has hit the motor vehicle industry, hurting sales and dealers’ cash flow.
Dealers who spoke to this publication say the supply crisis has lasted for three weeks, with the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) still coy on addressing the hitches.
Dealers are now stuck with units, as it is difficult to sell a car without plates, or to make bank transfers that require plates to be completed.
The shortage has hit the cash flow of a sector that barely six months ago was unable to transfer logbooks or register new cars after the NTSA migrated its system to the eCitizen platform.
Apart from the hit to cash flows, dealers or buyers are also likely to face higher additional storage charges for the continued stay of the cars at the container freight stations at the Port of Mombasa.
“There has been a crisis in getting number plates for the past three weeks. We have been greatly affected because you cannot do bank transfers for the cars without a number plate,” said Antony Aleri of CarMax East Africa.
The hitches have also left new car buyers stranded as they have already paid the Sh3,000 required to acquire number plates for their cars.
The crisis comes amid a surge in new car registrations, with 54,204 registrations between January and March this year, up 15.6 percent from 46,880 in the same period last year.
“It is bad, normally we get number plates within a maximum of one week after registration. But currently, cars that were registered in the first week of August are still at the port,” added Cindy Ndeda, the marketing manager at SBT Japan’s Kenyan office.
By press time, NTSA had not responded to questions on the matter and the reasons behind the shortage.
The shortage has also left the majority resorting to KD plates, which can only be used from 6am to 6pm. KD plates are temporary plates for vehicles waiting for number plates or without insurance.
Earlier this year, car dealers struggled to transfer logbooks and make new registrations following hitches after NTSA moved its system to the eCitizen portal.
The NTSA migrated its Transport Integrated Management System in December last year, but an increase in instances of system downtime affected the cash flow of car dealers, as the majority of used cars are purchased through asset finance, where banks pay up to 80 percent of the unit cost. The number plate shortage has been a recurring problem over the years.
