Nairobi County Launches Digital Revenue System to Streamline Payments for Traders
Nairobi County has unveiled a new digital platform — the Nairobi Revenue System (NRS) — aimed at transforming how residents and traders pay for county services. The initiative, a collaboration between the Nairobi Metropolitan Service (NMS), the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), and the County Government of Nairobi, seeks to centralize revenue collection and enhance transparency in service delivery. The system, expected to go live by December 2021, will enable users to make payments for services such as market fees, land rates, and bus parking charges directly through a single platform.
The launch of NRS follows years of confusion and inefficiency in Nairobi’s digital payment systems. Previously, residents had to navigate multiple payment platforms — particularly for parking fees — leading to delays, errors, and complaints about accountability. During its pilot phase, the new system successfully collected KSh 1 billion, demonstrating its potential to improve revenue management and reduce leakages. According to NMS Director-General Mohamed Badi, the county’s fragmented and outdated data systems had long undermined effective service delivery and financial oversight. The NRS, he noted, now provides a unified, secure, and credible database of businesses and property owners within the city.
KRA Commissioner-General Githii Mburu emphasized that the platform not only simplifies payments but also strengthens the county’s capacity to generate accurate data for planning and policy decisions. We have focused on ensuring Nairobi has a credible revenue collection system, as well as establishing credible data to determine who owns properties and operates businesses in the city, Mburu said. The launch of the Nairobi Revenue System marks a key milestone in the county’s broader digitization agenda, aligning with national efforts to modernize public service delivery and promote accountability in revenue collection.