End nigh for road-user charges discount

Transport officials have issued advice to owners of diesel vehicles as the government’s temporary road-user charges (RUC) reduction is set to end on January 31.

The measure was introduced in April 2021 as part of a package that also saw fuel excise tax slashed in response to a global energy crisis and the rising cost of living. The petrol tax reduction is being phased out by the end of March.

Standard RUC rates will apply from February 1 and Waka Kotahi New Zealand Transport Agency says road users who pay such charges need to be aware of how the transition will work.

Owners of light diesel vehicles are advised that if they have a current RUC licence bought at the discounted rate and it has a distance that will take them past February 1, then no further action is likely to be needed until that licence runs out.

“However, if you have a large among of RUC left over, from February 1 you can buy a new RUC licence from your current odometer/hubodometer reading,” the agency adds.

“You’ll need to buy enough RUC to go past the end distance of your current RUC licence. The system will charge the difference in RUC rates from the discounted rate to the normal RUC rate for the rest of the RUC licence.”

Waka Kotahi notes any “excessively large licence purchases” at the discounted rate that are not subsequently overlapped may be monitored and acted upon.

Anyone with a current RUC licence that will expire before February 1 can buy another licence with enough distance to last until February.

The agency adds people should only buy enough RUC for the distance they intend to travel during the discount period.

“If Waka Kotahi finds that your RUC purchases at the discounted rate have been excessive, unreasonable or are an abuse of the temporary rate reduction, we can charge you the non-discounted rates for your RUC,” it explains.

“If this happens, we’ll send you an invoice for your RUC at the normal rate. You'll have to pay the difference between the discounted rate and the normal RUC rates.”

Heavy diesel vehicles

All heavy RUC vehicles being used from February 1 will require a new licence. If the vehicle still has distance left on a current licence, the new licence should start with the current reading on the RUC distance recorder. 

Any unused distance will be automatically credited and go towards the purchase of the new licence.

Waka Kotahi says any discounted RUC for heavy vehicles bought before February 1 will become invalid on March 1. Any licences bought before February but still in use from the start of March will be invalid and heavy vehicles may also be audited for excessive or unreasonable use of the discounted RUC scheme.

For more information on RUC, visit www.nzta.govt.nz/ruc.