Nairobi Expressway experiences hitch on mobile money payment

Motorists using mobile payment to access Nairobi Expressway will have to find other alternative ways for payment after the Moja Expressway Company announced a temporary interruption of payment using mobile money.

In a notice on Monday, Moja Expressway Company, a subsidiary of the China Road and Bridge Corporation, said that the interruption was caused by an external mobile money service provider.

“We would wish to notify motorists using the Nairobi Expressway of a service downtime affecting payment of toll fees using mobile money due to technicalities from the external mobile money service provider,” reads the notice.

However, the company stated that updates will be provided as soon as the issue is resolved.

“We apologise for the inconvenience caused and are working closely with the external service provider to resolve the issue,” reads the statement.

For alternative ways, motorists have been advised to register for the Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) service at the nearest Toll Station or prepare cash in advance while using the Manual Toll Collection (MTC) lane.

Expressway users can get services through their phones without having to visit the main service centre at Nairobi Expressway Plaza along Mombasa Road.

Last December, Moja Expressway Company unveiled the USSD code (*819#) for expressway services.

Also, motorists using the Expressway can access some key services through "The Nairobi Expressway App".

The app is available for download for both Android and iPhone users.

The road has 11 tolling stations, 54 toll plazas, and 54 cameras, with 126 cameras inside the toll plazas and is monitored with recordings being done at 30-minute intervals.

The dual carriageway has 11 interchanges at Mlolongo, Standard Gauge Railway, JKIA, Eastern Bypass, Southern Bypass, Capital Centre, Haile Selassie Avenue, Museum Hill, Westlands, and James Gichuru Road.

The expressway, with 18.2km on the ground and 8.9km elevated, is a class A, four-lane dual carriageway with a design speed of 80km per hour.