NZ’s Digital Road User Charges (RUC) system for ALL light vehicles  End of 2026 beginning 2027. Abolishing Petrol Excise Duty. The RUC new system is based on ‘Distance’ and ‘Vehicle Weight’ requiring 1,000 km units, replacing Physical paper stickers with Digitalization- Electronic  System/ Legislative changes are already on their way. (RUC Light  vehicles under 3.5 tonnes)  This includes Electric (EVs) * Hybrid * Petrol * Diesel vehicles. Payment methods will be digital. With 3^rd Party Electronic Providers whom will offer RUC (Road User Charges) Monitoring services. Drivers will have to pre-purchase distance (units of 1,000 kms) and must ensure their licence is current

Future State (Approx. 2027): Petrol tax is abolished. All vehicles pay RUC, with rates to be determined closer to the 2027 launch. With RUC bought online in the NZTA app or via Agents. Penalties driving with an expired licence can lead to assessments for unpaid RUC. The current and future transition involves a transition in stages. Early this year Diesel & Heavy Vehicles already pay RUC based on distance and weight. 1^st April 2024 EVs and Plug in Hybrids began paying RUC.

The 2027 Transition (Universal RUC) All 3.5 million light vehicles included petrol driven cars will move to the RUC System. Once fully implemented, the fuel Excise Duty will be removed from the Petrol price. At this present half the price of petrol at the pump includes Govt Charges and Tax upon Tax. Including ETS – Carbon Emissions (The cost of Cardon on the International market depends on what that cost is at the pumps. At present approx. 17 cents per litre.

Third Party Provider- NZTA Waka Kotahi will shift being both regulator and retailer allowing for Private Third Party companies such as Argus Tracking or EROAD to participate in the automated RUC System. Also the Land Transport (Revenue) Amendment Bill addressing Traffic congestion via the Land Transport Management (Time of Use Charging) Amendment Act 2025. With reforms that also leverage Digitalization to integrate distance based charging and congestion management into a single digital platform. (Congestion Charges have been renamed as ‘Time Of Use ‘ (TOU)charging for certain roads during peak periods. The legislation comes into force 18^th November 2026. Auckland is expected to be the first city to implement this scheme

Estimated costs for Auckland TOU suggests peak time charges ranging from $3.50 to $5.oo per entry. TOU charges, tolls and RUC being bundled in together with one digital invoice. The Govt has reported that the Road User Charges Act 2012 already contains protection that limit the RUC collectors access to location data. All RUC Provider must prove their electronic systems are secure and reliable to the NZTA to gain approval.

RUC and TOU charges mean that travel data will be stored by 3^rd Party Provider, often using AWS (Amazon)  or Microsoft Azure these are subject to the US CLOUD Act. Therefore there is conflict as US Federal Law Enforcement  can compel US based technology companies to provide data stored on their servers regardless if the data is located in the US or NZ. For example>- If an RUC Provider is owned by a US company (Eg Microsoft or Amazon) the US Govt can request access without going through  NZ Courts (This is a bone of contention with the NZ Privacy Act).For the average commuter the primary risk is Metadata.  The aggregate of mass personal data stored in the US Cloud technically falls under their investigative reach. For light vehicles  Road

User Charges (RUC) per 1,000 Km will be $912 per year based on $76 per 1,000 km.  *TOU (Congestion Charge: Potentially $1,400 plus per year for a daily peak hour commuter. A driver entering a zone twice daily (to/from work) could pay $7–$10 per day, totaling roughly  1,600–$2,300 annually for a 230-day work year. Beyond these Road User Fee’s, motorist must meet ‘Transaction Costs’.  This will be approximately $13. 75 per person for RUC purchase. Or if you buy RUC in 1,000 units this adds roughly $150 per year in fees.

Older vehicles without built in tracking ‘smart tags’ or electronic distance recorders (eRUC) may be required to purchase this also. Annual Licensing (Rego) fees will be approx.., $172- to $350 per year depending on vehicle type. But what are the risks involved when third party provider collect Metadata about your data- this poses several risks. They are Pattern Recognition & Life Maps * Function Creep * Third Party Vulnerability  * Insurance & Commercial Misuse.

Pattern Recognition & Life Maps. Aggregated Metadata can reveal a drivers daily habits, workplace, home location, social association * Function Creep is where data collected for revenue purpose could be accessed by Law enforcement (Eg Police- Spy Agencies for Mass Surveillance.   *Third Party Vulnerability is where Data is stored by Private RUC provider susceptible to cyberattacks. If these companies are US owned the US CLOUD Act can grant foreign agencies access to NZ Driver metadata stored on their servers  * Insurance & Commercial Misuse is where Metadata such as ‘heavy braking ‘ or ‘high speed cornering’ could eventually be shared with or sold to insurance companies to adjust premiums without the drivers explicit consent.

Also Privacy Creep concerns where modern automated number plate recognition (ANRP0 and TOU camera’s are no longer just reading flat text, the hardware in these systems has evolved into high definition surveillance. They do not just see the number plate they can catch high resolution images of the driver and passengers in the vehicle. AI can be trained to identify faces, whether the driver is wearing a seatbelt, or is using a phone

Whilst NZ Govt states the primary goals is revenue and compliance, the raw data contains biometric features that facial recognition software can process instantly to other databases. The real danger is not just a photo, it’s the linking of data. Your number plate links to your registration which links to your name & address which via the RUC/ToU Provider links to your credit card and GPS/Time Logs.

Thus passive surveillance. Its like being digitally frisked everytime you pass a camera creating a permanent searchable record of who you were with, where you are going, where you have been and where you have visited linking this to workmates, family, friends etc.,  Yet NZ Privacy Act 2020 and the NZTA’s internal rules are suppose to limit this, however under the Search & Surveillance Act, NZ Police can (and do) request access to ANPR data from councils or NZTA for investigative purposes.

If this imagery is stored in the Cloud, it falls back into US CLOUD Act trap, where a foreign agency could potentially access high resolution images of NZrs inside their private vehicles without a local warrant . This is the cost that NZrs pay the surveillance – monitoring of motorists. A portion of the RUS/ToU fees goes towards maintain 1,000s of camera’s and the AI Software used to monitor you * Compliance odometer check. There will be higher admin fess to nudge nudge  you towards digital surveillance. Once this digitalized system is up and running it will be too difficult to get out of… (Eeem Lost in the Cloud, so to speak)

Should we distrust these Digital Systems? (Absolutely) There has been past data incidents  – revisiting COVID 19 Response that revealed multiple agencies including Health NZ and Stats NS that could not fully guarantee third party provider as to meeting agreed privacy protections. The Transport Sector reinforcing concerns about the transition to a Universal Digital Road User Charges (RUC) and (TOU). Privacy  Breaches in Transport despite assurance  NZ Transport databased have experienced significant unauthorized access.

May 2024 Portal Breach (NZTA) confirmed that roughly 1500 motorists had their driver licence or motor reg details illegally accessed via a third party portal  * 2025 Motorcheck incident. Where names and addresses of approx. 951 people were improperly accessed over 12 months. This led to at least 13 vehicles being targeted for theft after their owners home details were exposed

18^th November 2026 TOU charging has been criticized for ‘loose’ privacy protections. * Police & Spy Agencies being able to access ANPR footage recorded for Road Charging effectively turning a Revenue Tool into a Mass Surveillance Instrument. (Warning by the Council for Civil Liberties)  *Biometric Data expose- where high resolution camera’s required for TOU enforcement can inadvertently capture  biometric information of drivers & passengers, which may be stored for months or shared by agencies

Database Linking- where the Privacy Commissioner has warned that linking location data with the Motor Vehicle Registry can reveal sensitive ‘Life Maps’ of a persons habits. (Office of the Privacy Commissioner). When the Government tells the consumer their personal data and that of their families, friends, work colleagues is safe- Eeem Do you Really Trust Them.??

WakeUpNZ

RESEARCHER Cassie