Nairobi Residents Face Higher Parking and Business Fees as City Hall Approves to New Tariff System

Nairobi residents and small businesses are bracing for higher costs from July 2025 after the county assembly approved a far–reaching five-year tariff and pricing policy that will guide future hikes in parking fees, business permits and market charges.

The policy, adopted on Wednesday, gives City Hall its strongest legal basis yet to revise charges upward by tying every fee to the actual cost of delivering a service.

Although parking fees will not rise immediately, the new framework opens the door for significant increases in the upcoming Finance Bills.

County documents show Nairobi spends about Sh520 to provide a single parking service.

This cost model will anchor future adjustments, with the 2025–2030 policy projecting daily parking fees at Sh520 once the executive implements the new schedule.

Revenue forecasts already show an expected jump in parking collections in the next financial year.

County Receiver of Revenue Tairus Njoroge said the executive will consult the public before setting new charges and will consider the broader economic environment.

He said affordability and the city’s inflationary pressures will be factored into the final decision.

Under the approved policy, some business permits will rise to as high as Sh74,743.

This marks one of the steepest revisions in years and comes at a time when traders and households are struggling with high operating costs and rising prices of essentials.

Majority Whip Moses Ogeto said the assembly had endorsed the policy to fix Nairobi’s fragmented revenue system, which for decades has relied on scattered by-laws and annual Finance Acts.

He said the city’s growing population demands better services and a more reliable revenue framework.

For the first time, every county charge will be grounded in detailed cost mapping.

Trader licences have been collapsed into a Unified Business Permit that bundles fire, health and waste-collection fees previously billed separately.

Building plan approvals will cost Sh79,715, a figure drawn from an annual Sh4.52 billion expenditure on staff, ICT, inspection equipment and insurance.

The county has also priced access to public markets based on real costs.

Stalls in Zone I markets will be priced at Sh4,152, while those in Zone II will cost Sh2,349. These figures are tied to Nairobi’s Sh700 million annual spend on sanitation, lighting, security and market maintenance.

The construction and maintenance of Nairobi’s 16,900 parking slots has been valued at Sh3.54 billion, translating to an annual capital outlay of Sh177 million.

This, the county says, is the foundation of the Sh520 parking fee.

Nairobi’s push to formalise its tariff regime follows a landmark High Court ruling last month that struck down the Nairobi County Finance Act 2023. The court found the law unconstitutional for lacking a formal tariff and pricing policy, which is required under Article 209(4) of the Constitution and Section 120 of the County Governments Act.

Justice Bahati Mwamuye ruled that counties must demonstrate the cost of each service before imposing charges. He said Nairobi had failed to justify its fees, had not disclosed essential information and had engaged in arbitrary levying of charges.

The new policy is now expected to form the backbone of the next Finance Act and could usher in some of the most sweeping fee adjustments Nairobi has seen in years.