NZTA is reminding owners of electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles to buy their first road user charges licence before the deadline of 31 May 2024.

EVs and PHEVs became subject to road user charges on 1 April 2024, but owners have been given until 31 May 2024 to buy their first licence.

Anyone who doesn’t buy their first RUC licence by 31 May 2024 risks receiving a road-side police infringement and an invoice from NZTA that’s backdated to 1 April 2024, plus penalties on that for late payment.

“We’re encouraging people not to leave it to the last minute, as there will be penalties. If you haven’t already bought your licence, now’s the time to do it,” says NZTA, head of regulatory programmes, Tara Macmillan

Tara says that buying RUC is straightforward and only takes a few minutes.

“It’s quick and easy to buy RUC online – just go to the NZTA website and click on Online Services then Buy a road user charges licence. If online is not an option you can also buy over the counter at an NZTA agent.

“You’ll need to have your vehicle’s plate number and current odometer reading handy, as well as a way to pay.

“Once you’ve bought your RUC we’ll send you a pouch to put the licence in – you need to display this on your windscreen in the same way as you do for your vehicle rego.”

When you buy RUC, you pre-pay for the distance you’re going to travel, in units of 1000km.

The RUC rate for EVs is $76 per 1,000km, and $38 per 1,000km for PHEVs, because they also pay tax through petrol.

There is also an admin fee of $12.44 if you buy online, or $13.71 if you buy through an agent.

“Over two-thirds of New Zealand’s 105,000 electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids have already bought their RUC licence, which is great to see,” Tara says.

“We’re expecting a surge as we get closer to 31 May, so we encourage people to get onto it now to avoid that last minute rush,” she says.

Everyone who uses our roads pays their fair share toward the cost of their upkeep.

Petrol users pay through tax at the pump and others such as diesel vehicles pay in advance by buying RUC.

Electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles have been exempt from RUC since 2009, but this exemption ended on 31 March 2024