Method of verifying licence labels on vehicles
Harwood Wilson made this Official Information request to Christchurch City Council
This request has an unknown status. We're waiting for Harwood Wilson to read a recent response and update the status.
From: Harwood Wilson
Dear Christchurch City Council,
Please provide information on how the council parking teams check if a vehicle licence label has been maliciously altered.
Specifically, if a vehicle licence registration label shows as expired, do the council staff take that as face value of what appears on the paper label in front of them or do they check that against the NZTA database or similar? and in any case of investigating a vehicle, (for example bad parking, but shows current licence) do the council staff check the licence label against the NZTA database or similar? to ensure the licence label is correct?
Given that almost anything can be recreated by AI, do the council have a policy regarding verifying licence labels? or do they just rely on what is in front of their eyes and fine or not fine as such?
Has there been any meetings regarding this subject in the past 12 months? if so please attach any minutes of said meetings.
Yours faithfully,
Harwood Wilson
From: Official Information
Christchurch City Council
Tēnā koe Harwood,
Thank you for your request for information.
We are handling your request under the Local Government Official
Information and Meetings Act 1987 (LGOIMA). We have forwarded it to the
appropriate Christchurch City Council staff, and we will provide a
response or update within 20 working days of the date we received your
request. If we are unable to respond to your request by then, we will
notify you of an extension of that timeframe.
If you have any queries, please feel free to contact me using the
reference 1496598. If any additional factors come to light which are
relevant to your request, please do not hesitate to contact me so that
these can be taken into account.
If you have not had a reply within 10 working days, please email
[1][Christchurch City Council request email]
Nāku noa iti, nā
Jess Griffin
Official Information Advisor
Te Ratonga Ture me te Manapori - Legal & Democratic Services
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From: Official Information
Christchurch City Council
Tçnâ koe Harwood,
On 31 October 2025, you requested the following information, under the
Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (LGOIMA):
Please provide information on how the council parking teams check if a
vehicle licence label has been maliciously altered.
Specifically, if a vehicle licence registration label shows as expired, do
the council staff take that as face value of what appears on the paper
label in front of them or do they check that against the NZTA database or
similar? and in any case of investigating a vehicle, (for example bad
parking, but shows current licence) do the council staff check the licence
label against the NZTA database or similar? to ensure the licence label is
correct?
Given that almost anything can be recreated by AI, do the council have a
policy regarding verifying licence labels? or do they just rely on what is
in front of their eyes and fine or not fine as such?
Has there been any meetings regarding this subject in the past 12 months?
if so please attach any minutes of said meetings.
Release of information
1. Do parking compliance officers base registration off the visible paper
label or do they check against the NZTA database?
The Officers issue to what they physically see on the label. They do not
have the ability to access the NZTA Motocheck database.
2. Do the Council have a policy regarding verifying licence labels?
As stated above, the Officers issue to what they physically see on the
label. However, the Officers allow a 14-day grace period after a vehicle’s
registration expires before issuing an infringement notice. If they come
across a vehicle still within that grace period, they’ll leave a reminder
flyer on the vehicle to let the owner know their registration has expired
(see attached).
3. Has there been any meetings regarding the potential use of AI to alter
licence labels in the past 12 months?
No
4. If so, please provide minutes of the meetings.
Not applicable
You have the right to ask the Ombudsman to investigate and review our
decision. Complaints can be sent by email to
[1][email address].
Publication of responses to LGOIMA requests
Please note: our LGOIMA responses may be published on the Christchurch
City Council website a week after they have been responded to, with
requesters’ personal details withheld. If you have any concerns about
this, please contact the Official Information team on
[2][Christchurch City Council request email].
Nâku noa iti, nâ
Jess Griffin
Official Information Advisor
Te Ratonga Ture me te Manapori - Legal & Democratic Services
--------------------------------------------------------------
This electronic email and any files transmitted with it are intended
solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed.
The views expressed in this message are those of the individual sender and
may not necessarily reflect the views of the Christchurch City Council.
If you are not the correct recipient of this email please advise the
sender and delete the email.
[3]Christchurch City Council logo
References
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1. mailto:[email address]
2. mailto:[Christchurch City Council request email]
3. Christchurch City Council logo
https://ccc.govt.nz/
From: Harwood Wilson
Dear Christchurch City Council,
Thank you for the response.
I am surprised that the council do not check information against some database as it is very easy to recreate anything printed these days.
I further ask:
1. What is preventing the parking officers from accessing the "NZTA Motocheck database" is this prohibited by NZTA or have the council not equipped itself for this option?
2. Does anyone in the Council have access to the "NZTA Motocheck database"?
3. Does the council keep statistics on the number of infringements against vehicles where the infringement has been incorrectly issued for licence and wof? i.e vehicle presents as expired but live records show it isn't? if so, please provide these for the last 24 months.
4. Have the council (be that councilor, community board, executive, management or anyone employed) expressed any issue around sending infringements to persons based on what they see on paper, when live records present otherwise? within the past 24 months? if so please provide copies.
5. Have the council (be that councilor, community board, executive, management or anyone employed) discussed (in the last 24 months) ignoring valid live data when what on paper In front of them presents otherwise in order to increase revenue? and does that council have a policy on this? if so, please provide information on both.
Yours sincerely,
Harwood Wilson
From: Official Information
Christchurch City Council
Tēnā koe Harwood,
Thank you for your follow up request for information.
We are handling your request under the Local Government Official
Information and Meetings Act 1987 (LGOIMA). We have forwarded it to the
appropriate Christchurch City Council staff, and we will provide a
response or update within 20 working days of the date we received your
request. If we are unable to respond to your request by then, we will
notify you of an extension of that timeframe.
If you have any queries, please feel free to contact me using the
reference 1510006. If any additional factors come to light which are
relevant to your request, please do not hesitate to contact me so that
these can be taken into account.
If you have not had a reply within 10 working days, please email
[1][Christchurch City Council request email]
Nāku noa iti, nā
Jess Griffin
Official Information Advisor
Te Ratonga Ture me te Manapori - Legal & Democratic Services
--------------------------------------------------------------
This electronic email and any files transmitted with it are intended
solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed.
The views expressed in this message are those of the individual sender and
may not necessarily reflect the views of the Christchurch City Council.
If you are not the correct recipient of this email please advise the
sender and delete the email.
[2]Christchurch City Council logo
References
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1. mailto:[Christchurch City Council request email]
2. Christchurch City Council logo
https://ccc.govt.nz/
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