Dear Listers, 

The government recently, through the State Department of Immigration and Citizen Services, revised the charges of some of its services including the IPRS charges as shown below:

The Integrated Population Registration System (IPRS) is a centralized database that serves as the authoritative source of information on all registered individuals residing in Kenya, including both citizens and foreign nationals. It provides automated services for verifying national identification numbers and passport numbers for both government and private entities, majorly the financial sector (banks) and telecommunications companies (Safaricom and Airtel).

The applications of these services extend far beyond the financial and telecommunications sectors, with a vast array of potential use cases. However, the introduction of a Ksh. 1 Million annual subscription fee and the hike in the verification fee from Ksh. 5 to Ksh. 20 raise concerns about the accessibility of these services for startups and smaller organizations. 

Due to the public outcry, the government revoked this gazette notice and published a new one with minimal changes, IPRS charges remaining the same. Now the Ministry of Interior has invited public participation on the proposed charges which can be submitted via email  info.ctizenservices@interior.go.ke  on or before 8th Dec, 2023.  

In my view, they should consider the approach by the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner where private sector companies are categorized in terms of their annual turnover and number of employees so as to be inclusive to start-ups. 

That said, the Ksh. 1 Million annual subscription is still too high and should be revised downwards. It is rare for a Software of a Service to charge both a "Subscription Fee" and "Per Service Fee". They should consider getting rid of the "Subscription Fee" altogether and also reduce the "Verification Fee" to at most Ksh. 5. 

I will appreciate your perspectives on this matter. Looking forward to your input. 

--

Best Regards,

Kelvin Kariuki

Assistant Lecturer
Multimedia University of Kenya
Faculty of Computing and Information Technology

Twitter Handle: @teacherkaris

Alt email: kkariuki@mmu.ac.ke

Mobile: +2547 29 385 557

The Lord is my Shepherd 

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