In response to the evolving landscape of digital governance, the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) has announced a strategic disruption and subsequent shutdown of the Transport Integrated Management System (TIMS) portal.

The move comes as part of an overarching effort to streamline services and align with President William Ruto's directive for uniform accessibility to government services.

The NTSA, acknowledging the inconvenience caused by the service disruption on the TIMS portal, assured the public that their Information and Communication Technology (ICT) team is diligently working towards restoring normalcy.

"We are experiencing system downtime at the moment, but ICT is working on restoring it. We apologize for the inconvenience caused," stated the NTSA.

In a notice issued on Wednesday, the NTSA outlined plans for a three-day shutdown of the TIMS portal, commencing from Friday, December 29, 2023, at midnight and concluding on Monday, January 1, 2024, at midnight.

This hiatus aims to limit transactions on all NTSA services and facilitate the integration of online services into the eCitizen platform, heralding a new era in digital government services.

The NTSA emphasized the necessity of this transition, stating, "From January 2, 2024, only eCitizen login credentials shall be used to access NTSA services."

To comply with this directive, the NTSA has instructed motorists to finalize any pending transactions on the TIMS portal by Friday, to preemptively avoid inconveniences during the integration process.

"All clients with pending transactions on the TIMS platform are, therefore, required to complete their transactions by Friday, December 15, 2023, to avoid any inconveniences," NTSA emphasized.

Moreover, the NTSA has mandated all users, including motor vehicle owners, financial institutions, insurance companies, motorcycle dealers, companies, embassies, missions, departments, and agencies, to validate their eCitizen accounts.

This critical exercise ensures uninterrupted access to all NTSA services within the eCitizen platform.

"In undertaking the validation process, the Authority requires persons assigned to transact on behalf of organizations to log in to their eCitizen account and to add the specific organizations using the KRA pin number," specified the NTSA.

In a proactive measure to support users through this transition, the NTSA will conduct virtual training sessions between December 18 and December 22.

These sessions aim to familiarize users with the operational aspects of accessing services seamlessly on the eCitizen platform.

"NTSA is committed to delivering quality services to the public during this transition period," reiterated the Authority, underscoring their dedication to ensuring a smooth and efficient migration of services to the eCitizen platform.