How to Apply for the New Smart Driving License from NTSA

Do you know that you can now apply for a smart Driving License from NTSA?

If you are like most Kenyans, you have at one time, or another found the red book like driving license unattractive or even cumbersome.

Well, those days are now gone. You can now easily exchange your old driving license for the new digital one by just following a few steps online.

Before we go to the application process, here is some 411 about the new digital driving license:

The new smart driving license from NTSA costs 3,050kes, and everyone will be required to have migrated to it by January 2021.

It will also contain a host of information, including your blood type, biometrics, and any traffic offenses you might have committed!

This information will be contained in a chip that can only be read by special card readers to be used by NTSA.

This digital DL, which looks much like your ID, will work on a point system where points will be docked for bad behavior on the roads.

Different offenses will carry different point’s value.

You will be started with 100 points, and if these fall to 40, your driving license will be revoked for 6 months or even permanently. So stay woke people!

But that’s not all. As the system settles down, this digital DL could have several other implications.

Because the card will record all your driving behavior, this information will be useful to insurance companies when determining how to insure you and your car.

NTSA is currently in talks with insurance companies to have good drivers rewarded with low premiums, and bad drivers punished with high premiums.

In future, your driving history will also be valuable to employers.

There might be some ethics involved here, but employers run background checks all the time.

Nothing like your driving history (multiple offenses, warnings, etc.) to tell them whether you are a risky employ or not.

Focusing on the positive, you will no longer have to carry the red book around with you much longer!

Before you can apply for a smart DL, you need to have an account on the Transport Information Management System (TIMS) run by NTSA.

To create the account:

1. Go tims.ntsa.go.ke.

2. If you already have an account, all you have to do is log in.

3. If you don’t have an account, click on the register button at the bottom of the page.

4. This will redirect you to the page below. Select ‘individual’ option and input your ID Serial Number.

5. You will then fill in other required details such as KRA PIN, names, and phone number.

6. If all the information is correct, request for a verification code which will be sent to your phone.

7. Input the code on the verification tab, and you are now registered with TIMS.

To Apply for the Smart DL

1. Once you have created an account with TIMS, go back to tims.ntsa.go.ke and sign in.

2. You will be given several options- select ‘Driving License’.

3. This page will have all the details of the current driving license that you are holding.

4. On the left-hand side of the page, select the option ‘Apply for smart DL.’

5. You will be taken to a page with your current DL details where you will be asked to verify that all information, specifically the class, is correct.

6. If all the information is correct, then you should proceed to apply by clicking the ‘next’ button at the bottom of the page.

7. If there is something that you would like to correct, do so using the red link at the top of the page. You will have to wait for your information to be corrected before proceeding with the application.

8. On the next page you will be asked to make payment, and you will be redirected to a payment page with several payment options:

9. After making payment successfully, you will be required to book an appointment with NTSA.

10. At the appointment, NTSA will take your photo, fingerprints, and any other relevant details.

11. Typically, your smart DL should be ready in 5 working days. NTSA has, however, been experiencing a backlog, and you might have to wait a little bit longer than that.