Running a vehicle rental business

Starting a new vehicle rental business is a major decision that should be based on quality information and advice.

Early in your planning process, and no matter whether you’re going to operate one vehicle or many, you should get professional advice from people and organisations such as lawyers, accountants, insurance agents and Inland Revenue.

Getting a transport service licence

You'll need a transport service licence to own and manage a vehicle rental service business. 

A rental service vehicle is a vehicle used in a rental service for carrying passengers or goods. This includes renting to someone who drives the vehicle or provides a driver for the vehicle.

A rental service hires out vehicles for carrying passengers (including the driver) or goods. It doesn’t include:

• renting a motor vehicle under a hire purchase agreement or a bailment for more than 6 months
• hiring trailers with a gross vehicle mass less than 3500kg.

Rental service licence

Understanding the Operator Licensing Rule

Section 4 of the Land Transport Rule: Operator Licensing 2017 specifies the minimum legal standards and requirements you must meet in operating a vehicle rental business.

It requires you to:

• keep a register of your vehicles and the people who hire them
• sign a written agreement with each vehicle hirer and provide them with a copy
• explain the hire agreement if the hirer asks you to
• ensure the hirer, and anyone who intends driving the vehicle, has a valid driver licence for the vehicle
• offer the driver insurance for the vehicle for the term of their hire.

Land Transport Rule: Operator Licensing 2017

Driver licence classes

Meeting vehicle requirements

The vehicles you rent to customers must meet high safety standards. Your vehicles must continue to meet these safety standards while operated in a transport service.

This means:

• getting a CoF inspection every 6 months
• being up to the CoF safety standards in between inspections
• being up to date with registration and annual licensing requirements.

When buying vehicles for your business, you should also be aware of the safety features common in many modern vehicles and any features that could affect the environment.

Registration and annual licensing requirements

Choosing a safe vehicle

Peer to peer

Sometimes a rental service may use privately owned vehicles to rent online. These are commonly known as peer-to-peer rental vehicles. 

Rental platform

A peer-to-peer vehicle rental platform that connects vehicle owners with renters is considered the transport service operator. Because of this, the platform must hold the rental transport service licence (TSL) and must meet all legal and safety requirements. This includes making sure vehicles are roadworthy and properly insured.

Rental service licence

Before we grant a TSL, we need to be sure your platform meets all legal and safety requirements. This includes meeting our fit and proper person standards.

Fit and proper

You must show your platform has clear operating procedures that meet or are better than the industry standards. When you apply you must show:

• the vehicles are safe and well-maintained
• you include a pre-hire inspection checklist. You can use our checklist or create your own.
  Pre-hire inspection checklist [PDF, 201 KB]
• you take full accountability and oversight for the period of rental agreement, including insurance coverage, and 24/7 support for hirers.

While running your business you must:

• keep an up-to-date register of all vehicle owners using the platform. NZTA must be able to inspect this at any time
• keep a complaint register to track and manage issues
• keep a record of any offenses or incidents involving hired vehicles during the rental agreement. Include what happened and any disciplinary or corrective actions taken These records must be available to NZTA in the format asked for
• keep a record of inspections, servicing, repair, and fault reports
• have written processes for vehicle maintenance, outlining driver responsibilities and managing risks.

We’ll regularly check that your systems meet our expectations, legal requirements, and fit and proper criteria. This may include checking vehicles used through the platform. We expect you to help arrange these audits at suitable times.

If your platform doesn’t meet our requirements, individual vehicle owners will be required to hold their own TSL to use your platform.

Vehicle owners

If you're using a peer-to-peer rental service platform, the platform must have a TSL. However, if the platform doesn't meet all our requirements, you'll need to have your own TSL and meet all the requirements yourself. 

If you need more help

Call our contact centre for advice and help with complying with all transport-related rules, regulations, and vehicle standards and requirements. 

Contact us