Nearly half of WOF or registrations are overdue
Wednesday, 3 December 2025
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Nearly half of the vehicles on the road are being driven with either an expired warrant of fitness or registration, data from vehicle online compliance platform Bonnet shows.
The dataset of 21,482 vehicles across private owners and fleet operators revealed significant gaps in warrant of fitness, vehicle registration and road user charges compliance, Bonnet chief executive Steph Kennard said.
A fifth of EVs and diesel vehicles were also behind on road user charges (RUC) and a third of fleet operators were not keeping up with payments, serving as an ominous warning ahead of the Government’s plan to shift all vehicles to the RUC system, Kennard said.
From 2027, an estimated 3.5 million petrol vehicles would move into the RUC system, adding new financial and administrative pressures for drivers and businesses, she said.
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“These figures suggest that motorists are facing widespread administrative challenges across household and commercial vehicle ownership. Compliance issues are not limited to any particular income level, region or vehicle type,” she said.
With millions of additional vehicles entering the RUC system, Bonnet warned the transition risked large-scale non-compliance unless the process was made simpler and more accessible for drivers and businesses.
Owners would face additional administrative and financial burdens, and without accessible automated services, many could fail to pay RUC on time or keep up with registration and WOF requirements, she said.
The data highlighted the urgent need for digital tools that made compliance simple and manageable for all drivers, she said.
The Government has said it would replace the declining revenue from fuel taxes to fund roading projects with RUCs from 2027 at the earliest, with the goal of making payments more flexible.
But Kennard said the NZTA figures showed vehicle owners were already falling behind on basic vehicle compliance requirements.
Owners were usually not aware the warrant or RUCs on the vehicle were overdue because they didn’t look at the sticker on the windscreen, while others who had bought diesel vehicles because the fuel was cheaper, were not aware they also had to buy RUCs.
She has had to tell diesel vehicle owners they owed up $4000.
The minimum number of kilometres motorists could buy would also have to be reduced from 1000km, which cost $76. That would be a strain for those on lower incomes who bought $5 to $10 of fuel at a time, she said “The last thing they're going to do is go to the NZTA and spend $76 on something they can't see.”
And the RUC purchasing process must be automated. Bonnet planned to launch a set-and-forget model for consumers this month using open banking.
Competitors such as commercial vehicle monitoring company Eroad were also gearing up for the switch to the new RUC regime.
Kennard said the NZTA figures highlighted the growing financial strain on households.
“What we're seeing is that Kiwis are already overwhelmed by basic compliance, and that’s before the biggest change to vehicle ownership in decades takes effect. If this system becomes more complex without the right digital tools in place, non-compliance will rise and people will end up paying the price.”