The Transport Licensing Appeals Board (TLAB) has suspended Nicco Movers’ public service vehicle (PSV) operator licence after an inspection found serious safety and compliance problems in most of the company’s vehicles.
The suspension took effect immediately, with the tribunal giving the company seven days to address the outstanding issues.
The decision comes after TLAB overturned an earlier decision by the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) to cancel the operator’s licence following two separate incidents involving Nicco Movers vehicles.
An inspection of 51 vehicles linked to the operator found that only six had met the required safety standards, while 45 failed.
Among the problems identified were missing or faulty passenger seat belts, defective doors and window locks, faulty lights and horns, damaged bodywork and a lack of emergency equipment.
NTSA also found that 30 vehicles had been recorded travelling above the 80km/h speed limit.
Another 11 vehicles were not transmitting speed-limiter data, while some did not have speed-limit records, functioning speed limiters or valid inspection certificates.
Licence Cancellation Overturned
TLAB overturned NTSA’s June 9 decision to revoke Nicco Movers’ PSV operator licence, but instead imposed an immediate suspension.
“The Respondent’s decision revoking the Appellant’s PSV Operator Licence…is hereby set aside. In substitution thereof, the Appellant’s PSV Operator Licence is suspended with immediate effect,” the tribunal ruled.
The case was partly linked to the death of 19-year-old KMTC student Eugene Mutivi Mutuku, who fell from a moving Nicco Movers vehicle along Thika Superhighway in June.
There have been conflicting accounts of what happened. Mutuku’s family alleged that he was pushed from the vehicle, while the company maintained that he jumped.
Following the incident, NTSA suspended the Sacco and grounded vehicles operating under its licence. The company later resumed operations after TLAB overturned the decision pending the appeal.
The board stated that it would not decide the cause of death of Mutuku since the circumstances that caused his death are an issue for the criminal process.
Tribunal Cancellation Too Harsh
These issues of safety were not only evident in the June case.
Another instance of fatalities in connection with Nicco Movers vehicle happened in January where a person walking on the road was killed near Kenyatta University and Kahawa Sukari.
According to TLAB, the NTSA had sufficient reasons to take legal steps against Nicco Movers based on its issues of safety and compliance.
Nonetheless, the tribunal decided that cancellation of the license was too harsh and chose to suspend it instead.
Nicco Movers will have seven days to solve the issues.
Failure to meet the required safety standards could leave the company facing further action from the transport regulator.
