Waka Kotahi NZTA is set to introduce a number of price changes to its services later this year in an effort to help plug a $100 million shortfall.
A performance review, commissioned by the Ministry of Transport in 2019, found the transport regulator was under-funded and under-resourced.
New Zealand road users will make up $66 million of the deficit in new fees and charges which are set to be introduced in October 2023.
In some cases, motorists will be paying more for commonly used services but handing over less for others.
Increases will be made to the amount paid to renew vehicle registrations, administration fees for RUC transactions and applications for exemptions.
Waka Kotahi's administration charge for renewing car registrations online will go from $4.10 to $8.66.
Fees for re-sitting driver's licence tests are to be scraped.
Waka Kotahi says this will lower the average cost for obtaining a learner, restricted or full licence, because so many people need to sit the test multiple times.
Licence prices are made up of an application fee and the cost of the actual theory or practical test. If the test is failed, currently you have to pay to sit it again.
Fees for those sitting their learner licence will rise slightly from the current price of $93.90 to $96.19, while those aiming for a restricted licence will have to pay $167.57, an increase of just over $30, from $134.80.
The cost of a full driver licence application and test will drop from $109.50 to $98.96.
Currently, taking into account re-sits, the average cost of a learner licence is $117.36, restricted is $203.02, and full is $129.85.
According to Waka Kotahi statistics, 76 percent of learners pass their theory test on the first attempt while 53 percent of people pass their practical driving test for a restricted licence first time around and 72 percent pass their full first go.
Drivers will be able to re-sit the test more than once for free if they fail, with the Government says ditching the re-sit fees will cumulatively save new drivers around $5.5 million each year.
Waka Kotahi is also introducing a series of new fees, such as for fleet relicencing, VIN approvals and changes to distance recorder.
A number of increases have also been made to charges paid by motor dealers.
Cabinet considered the proposed changes in late March before they were approved on April 3.
Waka Kotahi Director of Land Transport Kane Patena told 1News the decisions were made after a thorough consultation process.
“The review found that the money we collect currently doesn’t cover the costs of doing the work.
"The current regulatory system is underfunded, and the changes to fees and charges will allow Waka Kotahi to be a more effective regulator, making the transport system safer for everyone who uses it.
"At the moment, we’re charging too much for some services and not enough for others. Some people are paying more than they should, some are paying less than they should, and others aren’t paying at all.
"These changes will fix that, and will make sure we’re properly resourced to regulate the land transport system."
He said the review was the first comprehensive overhaul of funding, fees, and charges since the establishment of Waka Kotahi in 2008.
"Some of the fees now being updated were set in the 1980s and hadn’t been changed since," Patena said.
A full list of changes can be found here.
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