Authorisation for service station access to the Motor Vehicle Register (MVR)
The rules for access to the Motor Vehicle Register (MVR) changed on 1 May 2011, introducing greater controls on the use of information obtained from the register. The Ministry of Transport has approved a class authorisation for service stations to get access to the register.
This will enable service station owners to access vehicle owner information when there is a drive off incident where customers have not paid for fuel or other goods. MTA has actively worked with the Ministry to achieve this and applaud the Ministry for listening to stakeholders and finding a pragmatic solution.
This information has been provided to MTA by the Ministry of Transport.
Class authorisation information
To ensure that all service stations have the access they need, the Secretary for Transport has decided to grant access to all service stations as a class. A copy of the “Authorised Access to the Motor Vehicle Register (Service Stations) Notice 2011” (the Notice), is available as a downloadable document below. This Notice comes into force on 19 May 2011 and expires at midnight on 30 April 2016, a duration of just under 5 years.
The Notice allows a company that owns a service station to access name and address details held on the Motor Vehicle Register (MVR) for the following purpose (“specified purpose”):
- To trace registered persons in respect of vehicles where the occupants fail to pay for goods or services from a service station.
A service station is defined as a site that sells fuel to the public and for which a test certificate is issued pursuant to section 82 of the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996. This means that the test certificate does not need to be issued directly to the individual service station, but could also be issued to the company in relation to that particular service station.
The Notice will work for all of the varied business models because access is given at the company level, for example:
- where an oil company owns 50 service stations, then the oil company will be able to access the MVR for the specified purpose in relation to any of their 50 service stations. The individual service stations will not have access, only the head office;
- where a company has 10 franchises who each own 5 service stations, the access would occur at the franchise level not at the individual service station level; and
- where there is an independently owned single service station, the independent company can access the MVR.
If you wish to use an information portal for accessing the MVR for the specified purpose, you will be able to get access via one of the authorised portals, these are, Veda Advantage (NZ) Limited, Carjam Online Limited, Information Logistics Company Limited, and Motorweb Services Limited. It is likely that at least one other will be added shortly.
Please note that names and addresses of individuals who have instructed the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) not to release their details (known as “opting out”) will not be released to you. If you wish to access names and addresses for any other purpose you will need to apply to the NZTA on a case by case basis.
If you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact the NZTA on 0800 108 809.
