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Summarised by Centrist
The law change needed to allow digital driver’s licences is still “crawling through Parliament”, yet ministers are determined to get it passed before the election.
A spokesperson for Chris Bishop said the government was aiming to pass the bill “by mid-year”, while Associate Transport Minister James Meager’s office said it would proceed “as and when time permits” despite an already packed legislative programme.
The Regulatory Systems (Transport) Amendment Bill would expand the definition of a driver’s licence to include electronic versions and create a framework for further legislation on digital licences.
It also opens a pathway for other transport documents, including Warrant of Fitness and registration stickers, to be digitised too.
Notably, the Transport and Infrastructure Committee said it was “vital” that electronic licences remain “optional”, and that people remain “equally free to use just a physical driver licence”.
It added: “We recognise that there are many reasons why individuals might prefer to continue using a physical driver’s licence.” Meager made the same point at first reading, saying it was “important to note” that physical licences would “always be an option”.
The select committee even changed the wording of the bill to make it more flexible, so an electronic licence would not need to carry certain features in a fixed physical form. In other words, lawmakers were adjusting the rules to better accommodate a digital version.
The govt.nz app, launched last year, will “eventually” hold digital driver licences, and Christopher Luxon has described them as a “common sense thing”, saying: “We’re all using digital wallets to buy products and services across the country.”
