Month: November 2021

This is how you create a TIMS account using the new TIMS VIRL portal. The National Transport and Safety Authority recently launched a revamped portal. This was done to improve the services offered. 

The new portal was created to reduce congestions to provide better services to a larger number of people. 

The Integrated Country Engine portal is accessible from both mobile devices (smartphones) and a personal computer.

The New NTSA TIMS account will help manage the following services: 

• Vehicle Registration (New Registration and Reregistration). 
• Motor Vehicle Ownership Transfer.
• Vehicle Inspection (Booking and Payment).
• Vehicles Records Management.

To access the portal, one must have an account. The following are the categories of users who can register on the TIMS VIRL portal:

• Individual  
• Dealer  
• Financial Institution  
• Company  
• Driving School

Note on Driving Licenses

Application and renewal of smart driving licenses process is still being done on the old TIMS NTSA account. Thus you will still need your old account to apply for a smart driving license or renew it.

How to Register an Individual Account on the New TIMS VIRL Portal

This registration option is for individuals who are registering for the first time. In other words, individuals who were not registered in the previous TIMS Portal. If you had previously created an account on the TIMS NTSA Portal, skip this step.

1. Access the TIMS VIRL website. Once it opens, on the right-hand side, make sure you see the username, password and security code option. If the security code option is missing, press F5 to refresh your page until the three buttons appear.

2. Click on the register account option.

3. Select the registration type that you wish to register for.

4. For an individual account the option is either Kenyan citizen or Alien (Foreign Resident). Click next after selecting the individual type.

5. Enter your ID serial number

Enter your ID serial number and click on the search button. This will enable the system to retrieve your data already captured by the government. If your ID serial number is not found, visit or call any Huduma Center or NTSA offices. This happens when you have changed your ID or it is a very new one.

6. If your serial is found, proceed to enter your mother’s maiden name. Click on the search button. Note that you should only enter one name. If the maiden name is not found in the system, try the other names, but again one at a time. The spelling of the name matters a lot.

7. Enter your KRA pin and click search. In case you forgot your pin, check this article on how to retrieve your forgotten KRA Pin.

8. Once your pin is confirmed the next page opens. Fill in all the required information such as a physical address, email, phone number among others. The email phone numbers are verified. This is by entering a code that will be sent to both of them, but one at a time.

9. After submission of your details wait for a message that will be sent to your registered phone. It contains your username which is mostly the ID and password. Use these details to log in. Enter the username and password and click get code. Enter the code you will receive on your mobile and proceed to log in.

What If Have an Account on the Old TIMS NTSA Portal?

If you have an account on the old TIMS NTSA portal, you do not have to create an account. All your details and vehicles if any have been migrated to the new system.

To access the new TIMS VIRL system, all you need is to use the option of forgot password. Under the username option, enter your ID number and proceed.

Some information relating to your account will be displayed. This is information is only some part of your phone number.

If the number is yours and accessible at the moment, click on send code option. A verification code will be sent to your cell phone.

After entering the one time code, the system will request you to change your password. Change your password and proceed to login into your account.

This is a basic guide on how to deregister a limited company in Kenya. This article will help you through the process of striking off a company but if need be, you can seek the services of a specialist.

Information contained is the main requirement to voluntary deregister a limited company from the registrar of companies records. This is as stipulated under the Companies Act, 2015 (“Companies Act”).

To deregister a limited company, the process is a bit involving. This is as opposed to deregistering a business name, as explained in this article.

What Circumstances May A Company Apply To Be Deregistered?

Section 897 provides that a company may apply to the Registrar to be struck off the register and be dissolved.

A company may apply to the Registrar to be struck off the register and be dissolved if:

• It is dormant or no longer trading, and has no assets or liabilities; or
• If the shareholders decide that they no longer wish to continue with the company and would like it struck off the register.

However, before you deregister a limited company, all statutory compliance should be up to date.

A company cannot apply to be struck off if it is the subject, or proposed subject, of:

• A voluntary arrangement under the insolvency Act which has not been concluded
• Under administration
• Under liquidation- voluntary or by the Court which has not been concluded.

 What to Do Before Starting the Deregistration Process

It would help if you started by notifying parties likely to be affected by a company’s dissolution. These are the company’s shareholders, directors, creditors, employees, managers, or trustees of any employee pension fund.

Also remember to deal with any pending items, such as closing the company’s bank account, and the transfer of any domain names before you apply for the strike-off.

 Steps Taken to Deregister a Limited Company in Kenya

1. Log into the office of the Attorney General site using your eCitizen login details. Click on the make application option.

2. Click on the plus (+) next to the company registration and click on Strike off of Limited Company. This will enable you to complete the ‘Application by Company to Have its Name Struck Off the Register’ Form CR 18. Fill in all the required information and finally remember to attach the incorporation certificate of the company you are closing.

The form (CR 18) should be dated and must be signed by:

• The sole director, if there is only one
• By both, if there are two
• By all or the majority of directors, if there are more than two.

3. Click on next to proceed. Review your entry before submitting it. After submitting, pay the required service charge of 4,050. 

4. After payment, download form CR18 and form CR19. Print and sign them before uploading them. After this stage, wait for AG’s office to act on your application.

Persons to Inform About the Deregistration

Under Section 900, the directors who make the application must, within 7 days of sending the application to the registrar, send a copy to the following persons:

• The shareholders of the company.
• Creditors such as banks, suppliers, former employees if the company owes them money, landlords, tenants (for instance, where a security deposit is refundable), guarantors and personal injury claimants. You must notify the appropriate offices including the Kenya revenue authority and the local labour officer if there are outstanding, contingent or prospective liabilities
• Employees.
• Managers or trustees of any employee pension fund.
• Any directors who have not signed the form (cr 18, ‘application by the company to have its name struck off the register’).
• A person of a class prescribed by the Regulations to strike off

The company’s directors must also send a copy of the application to any person who, after the application has been made, becomes a director, member, creditor or employee of the company, or a manager or trustee of any employee pension fund of the company.

This must be done within seven days of the person becoming one of these. The directors must also send a copy of the application to any person who becomes one of the above at any time after the day the company made the application for voluntary strike-off.

This obligation continues until the company’s dissolution or the application’s withdrawal. Failure to circulate the notice to the various parties constitutes an offence.

 How do You Inform the Various Parties?

You can deliver a hard copy of the ‘Application by Company to Have its Name Struck Off the Register’ Form CR 18 to the parties personally, person’s proper address or post a copy to, or leave it at:

• The last known address (if an individual)
• The principal/registered office (if a company or other body)

It is also permissible to make a creditor of the company aware of the application by leaving or posting a copy of it to the place of business with which the company has dealings concerning the current debts.

This is, for example, the branch from where you ordered goods or a business that invoiced you.  However, if there is more than one such place of business, you should deliver a copy of the application to each of those places. It is advisable to keep proof of delivery or posting.

What Happens When the Registrar of Companies Receives the Application?

The Registry examines the application and if it meets the requirements, the Registrar shall cause to publish in the Kenya Gazette an intention to strike off the company.

This is to allow interested parties the opportunity to object.

A copy of this notice is placed on the company’s public record.  If there is no reason to delay, the registrar will strike the company off the register not less than three months after the date of the notice. 

The company is dissolved on publication of a further notice stating this in the relevant Kenya Gazette.

How to Check if Your Company has Been Struck Off

The first step is to keep checking for the listing in Kenya Gazette. You can do this by Google searching your company name. Else you can check from the Kenya Gazette website.

Once gazetted, log into your eCitizen account. Under my business, the place will be empty. You can now proceed to close other items related to your struck-off company such as bank accounts, and KRA pin among others.