AIDE MEMOIRE: CABINET PAPER 
Title 
Road User Charges (Exemption Period for Light Electric RUC 
Vehicles) Order 2016 
Committee 
Cabinet Legislation Committee 
Issues 
Authorise the submission of the Order to the Executive Council 
Ministerial 
None required 
Consultation 
Talking points 

I  propose  that  the  Cabinet  Legislation  Committee  authorise  the  submission  of  the  Road
User  Charges  (Exemption  Period  for  Light  Electric  RUC  Vehicles)  Order  2016  (the 
proposed Order) to Executive Council. 

Road user charges (RUC) are payable on all vehicles with a gross vehicle mass of more
than 3,500 kilograms, or vehicles with motive power that is not wholly derived from petrol.

In  2009,  as  a  first  step  in  encouraging  the  uptake  of  electric  vehicles,  the  Government
decided  that  light  electric  vehicles  would  be  exempt  from  RUC  starting  from  1  October
2009 until 2013.

Following a review of the RUC exemption, Cabinet agreed on 16 April 2012 that the RUC
exemption for light electric RUC vehicles be extended until 30 June 2020.

On  21  March  2016,  as  part  of  the  electric  vehicles  package,  Cabinet  agreed  to  rescind
their  earlier  decision  and  instead  extend  RUC  exemption  for  light  electric  RUC  vehicles
until  they  comprise  two  percent  of  the  light  vehicle  fleet,  which  is  expected  to  occur  by
December 2021.

The  proposed  Order  will  amend  the  Road  User  Charges  (Exemption  Period  for  Light
Electric RUC Vehicles) Order 2012 and extend the RUC exemption period for light electric
RUC vehicles from 30 June 2020 to 31 December 2021.

The work on extending the RUC exemption to heavy electric vehicles is being progressed
separately through the Energy Innovation Bill.

---