Under the RUC Act 2012, you must keep all records relating to RUC vehicles, including the distance the vehicle has travelled and what the RUC weight is.
These guidelines provide a summary of RUC vehicle records you must keep, and some of the main reasons why Waka Kotahi may require you to produce the records. These guidelines are intended as a summary and don't limit or replace the legal requirements in transport legislation.
Section 65 and the definition of records in section 5 of the Road User Charges Act 2012 says the records that must be kept are:
Section 66 of the act says that when assessing unpaid road user charges or checking for compliance, Waka Kotahi can require the owner/operator of the RUC vehicles to produce records or other information relevant to the use or maintenance of a RUC vehicle.
Section 67 of the act gives Waka Kotahi the right to require third parties to provide information if the owner/operator of the RUC vehicles has failed to produce records, or if records produced are believed to be false, inaccurate or misleading.
You may need to produce these records for inspection. If you can't produce these records it could result in a fine of up to $25,000 for an individual and up to $100,000 for an organisation if convicted of an offence.
It's an offence to provide false records or information and can result in a fine of up to $15,000 for an individual and up to $75,000 for an organisation.
Waka Kotahi may also access business records held by third parties. Anyone who has serviced, maintained, supplied or contracted/leased a RUC vehicle may be required to produce records in relation to that vehicle. Failure to comply without reasonable excuse can result in a fine of up to $15,000.
There are three main reasons Waka Kotahi may require access to records:
Most hubodometer changes result in a refund. So it's in your interest to cooperate if we ask for additional information. A RUCHO records request will usually be made to allow the RUC collector to determine the distance a hubodometer should have recorded if it was working correctly.
We'll generally look at vehicle inspection data for distance readings first. The distance recorder reading at the time of vehicle inspection is provided to Waka Kotahi each time a vehicle is inspected. There may be times when other RUC records may be required to support an application.
For off-road refunds, the act requires Waka Kotahi to be satisfied the application is accurate and enough information is provided to support the application. Make sure you give enough information to support an application, because if you don't, we may decline the application.
