All Public Service Vehicles will now have to pay royalties for playing music in their vehicles.
This is after a n MoU was signed on Thursday between the Kenya Copyright Board Executive director Edward Sigei, and National Transport and Safety Authority DG George Njao.
This is intended to boost Kenyan musicians' royalties as proposed by President Uhuru Kenyatta.
In his speech on January 14, Uhuru directed changes to the collection structures for musicians, such that their royalties being raised to Sh2 billion per year.
He instructed all content service providers to channel all payment of royalties through a single centrally-managed account at the Kenya Copyright Board.
This will enable oversight by the regulator and ensure that the collection distribution accounts are easily audited.
In the agreement on Thursday, complying PSVs will receive a Certificate of Compliance from the Copyright Board after payment.
NTSA will support the course by providing relevant data on all registered PSVs and their seating capacity.
According to the collection module, the ICT system shall enable PSVs that use music to make payments through any mobile money platform at the comfort of their vehicles and obtain a digital licence.
The users can also pay for the licence in easy periodic installments and manage licences on behalf of their saccos.
Therefore, there will be no need for verification roadblocks.
On his part, Kecobo's Sigei said the implementation of the MoU will support the board's ICT system, specifically the Royalty Collection Module by enabling efficient collection of royalties through digital supported portal and USSD.