Replacing fuel tax with road user charges

The Minister of Transport has announced the next steps for replacing petrol tax with electronic road user charges. 

Key legislative changes the government is progressing include: 

• Removing the requirement to carry or display RUC licences, allowing for digital records instead.
• Enabling the use of a broader range of electronic RUC devices, including those already built into many modern vehicles.
• Supporting flexible payment models such as post-pay and monthly billing.
• Separating NZTA’s roles as both RUC regulator and retailer to foster fairer competition.
• Allowing bundling of other road charges like tolls and time of used based pricing into a single, easy payment.

At this stage, no date has been set for the full transition of the light vehicle fleet. The Minister expects to pass new legislation in 2026. 

Next steps on replacing petrol tax with electronic road user charges - Minister of Transport announcement on Beehive website(external link)

Legislative improvements to modernise the road user charges system - Ministry of Transport website(external link)