All vehicles required to pay road user charges (RUC) must be fitted with a distance recorder. It must give an accurate, reliable record of the distance travelled.
Every vehicle over 3.5 tonnes needing a RUC licence, must be fitted with an approved hubodometer or an approved electronic distance recorder.
Approved electronic distance recorders
Hubodometers must be set to read in kilometres for the size of the tyre and have a unique manufacturer's serial number inside the casing of the meter. If the tyres are an odd size, contact us.
A hubodometer must be fitted at all times, to a non-lifting axle, on the left-hand side of the vehicle, unless special approval is granted by Waka Kotahi.
You may be able to use a hubodometer that was previously fitted to another vehicle with special permission from the RUC Assessments team. You'll need to provide the following information:
Email us at rucassessments@nzta.govt.nz
If your hubodometer is lost, damaged, or found to be faulty, you'll need to replace it and buy a RUC licence for the new hubodometer. You'll need to complete a Road user charges application to change hubodometer (RUCHO) form. Forms are available from RUC agents.
If there's any unused distance left on the licence for the lost or unusable hubodometer, you may be able to get a refund. The refund is at the discretion of the RUC Assessments team. If possible you must keep the old hubodometer until Waka Kotahi has made a decision.
RUC refund after hubodometer change
The following hubodometers have been approved by Waka Kotahi:
Eroad Ltd
eroad.co.nz(external link)
08004EROAD
Coretex Ltd
coretex.com(external link)
0800 835 3628
Picobyte Solutions Ltd – formerly Mobile Intelligence Ltd
rucmonkey.co.nz(external link)
0800 437 212
Navman Wireless NZ – trading as Teletrac Navman
teletracnavman.co.nz(external link)
0800 447 735
Electronic road user charges code of practice [PDF, 1.3 MB](external link)
It's your responsibility to make sure that the hubodometer is accurately recording the distance the vehicle has travelled at all times.
The hubodometer is not a safety issue, so it's not the responsibility of CoF inspectors to check if the hub is working correctly or not.
Depending on how often the vehicle is used, you should check the hubodometer weekly, fortnightly or monthly to make sure it's accurately recording the distance travelled.
You can do this by:
If your hubodometer starts to slow, seize or read incorrectly you'll need to replace it and complete a RUCHO form.
If you find your odometer is faulty, such as starting to record slowly or not at all, you'll need to replace it. This applies to light diesel vehicles 3.5 tonnes and under, or for heavy vehicles that have permission to buy RUC off the odometer.
If you need to replace your odometer, it’s a good idea to take photos of the old and new odometers clearly showing the readings and keep any documentation you have relating to the purchase and fitting of the new unit.
You'll need to let us know when the odometer has been replaced as your RUC licence will need to match what your distance recorder is reading.
Heavy vehicles are required to have a hubodometer or electronic distance recorder fitted. However, in some cases, this is not practicable.
Traditionally we've given exemptions if there's no suitable sized hubodometer for vehicles with very large or very small wheels. These vehicles can now be fitted with Datatrac hubodometers or electronic distance recorders, which have an electronic component and can be calibrated to any wheel size.
We won't grant hubodometer exemptions for cosmetic purposes, that is, they don’t look good. We'll only consider an exemption if the hubodometer poses a safety risk – for example, it sticks out too far from the tyre or the width of the vehicle.
Section 8 of the RUC Act 2012(external link)
