11 February 2020
Joe
[FYI request #11974 email]
REF: OIA-6260
Dear Joe
Request made under the Official Information Act 1982
Thank you for your email of 3 January 2020 requesting information about the payment of
outstanding motor vehicle licence fees, and the lawfulness of an infringement notice issued in
relation to a motor vehicle following the expiry of its licence.
Your request has been considered under the provisions of the Official Information Act 1982
(the Act).
There is no document held by Waka Kotahi, the New Zealand Transport Agency that contains
the information you have requested. Accordingly, your request has been refused under section
18(e) of the Act as the document alleged to contain the information requested does not exist
or, despite reasonable efforts to locate it, cannot be found.
Offences relating to the operation of an unlicensed vehicle are prescribed in law and are
committed when a vehicle that is required to be continuously licensed is operated in
contravention to that requirement. The subsequent licensing and payment of the outstanding
licence fees does not void an infringement notice that has issued in the circumstances
described above.
In the event that a vehicle which has remained unlicensed for a period of more than 12 months
has its registration cancelled, the licence fees that would otherwise have been payable during
that 12-month period remain due. The payment of those outstanding fees does not, however,
have the effect of retrospectively licensing the vehicle for that period. Rather, it is the payment
of fees in accordance with section 242(2)(b) of the Land Transport Act 1998, which provides
that the prescribed fees and accident insurance levies must be paid for the time that the motor
vehicle is required to be licensed, whether or not the vehicle is actually licensed at the time.
In the event you have received an infringement notice related to the operation of an unlicensed
motor vehicle that you wish to challenge, you can do so with the agency that issued the
infringement. That agency will be able to advise of you of any right of appeal you may have.
Under section 28 of the Act, you have the right to ask the Ombudsman to review my decision
to refuse your request. You can contact the Office of the Ombudsman by phone on 0800 802
602 or through its website at
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz.
If you would like to discuss this reply with the Transport Agency, please contact Matt Rush,
Customer Advisor - Ministerials, by email to
[email address] or by phone on 0800
108 809.
Yours sincerely
Michael Aitken
Senior Manager Operational Policy, Planning & Intelligence
