Business owners in Nairobi will enjoy lower costs of running their businesses following the latest directive by the county government to slash licensing fees by half.
The latest move targets traders and bar owners and they will be required to pay half of what they have been paying.
Licenses for bar owners will now cost Ksh25,000 from Ksh50,000 for a period of 12 months. The same applies to those seeking to run the ventures for six months with the licensing fees having been revised from Ksh30,000 to Ksh15,000.
Wines and spirits owners will now pay Ksh12,000 for a 12-month license. The charges were slashed from Ksh24,000. Those seeking licenses for only six months and below will be expected to pay Ksh7,000 as opposed to the current Ksh14,000.
The revised charges follow the adoption of the Finance Bill 2021 by the Nairobi County Assembly on Tuesday, February 15.
But according to the Bill, online hailing taxis will now have to pay a Ksh1000 monthly parking fee, which was not applicable previously. Private cars will also be expected to pay Ksh35,000 for their annual parking licenses, Ksh20,000 for six months, Ksh10,000 for a period of three months and Ksh4,000 for one month parking license.
Defending the move to lower the cost of business licences, Budget and Appropriations Committee chairperson, Robert Mbatia, detailed that the revised charges are aimed at helping traders in the city mitigate the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
"The bar and liquor store owners submitted that the costs required review to reduce multiplicity and help them compensate for the long closure period caused by the pandemic. In this regard, the committee has proposed that the relevant charges be reduced by 50 per cent," Mbatia stated.
The Bill now awaits Governor Anne Kananu's assent before being effected and implemented into law.
The MCAs also moved to shield market traders from additional taxes. The daily market access fee for small traders was reduced to Ksh20.
