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Nearly 460 commercial driver licences have been revoked as part of a crackdown on fraudulent activity, with every foreign driver being born in the same country.
NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) had initially revoked 440 commercial licences after discovering fraudulent activity from an auditin July, but the Herald has discovered through an Official Information Act (OIA) request that the number affected by its regulatory action has risen by 19.
Inconsistencies in the documents provided during the licence conversion process were discovered by NZTA. It contacted the individuals affected and advised them to surrender their licences.
The Herald’s OIA requestinto the background of these drivers has revealed that all 459 were born in India, but none of the converted licences were Indian.
The data from NZTA showed that 436 of the converted licences came from the United Arab Emirates, 18 from Australia and five from Canada.
The drivers’ ages ranged from 24 to 65, with most aged between 30 and 35. Only two of the 459 revoked licences were held by women.
When the initial data was released, NZTA deputy director of land transport Mike Hargreaves said the licences were revoked after a thorough investigation of the issues identified in the audit.
“We have systems in place to identify, investigate and respond to suspected fraudulent activity, and we will act swiftly when we find it by holding people to account,” he said.
NZTA has revoked 459 commercial licences, with 436 of these converted licences coming from the UAE.
Providing false information as part of a driver licence application was against the law and could be punished with a fine of up to $750, NZTA said.
When converting to a New Zealand truck licence, applicants need to have a valid overseas licence, meaning it is current or expired within the past 12 months, and it must not be suspended, disqualified or revoked in the country of issue.
Applicants with truck licences from “exempt” countries – those requiring similar driving skills and with similar licensing systems to New Zealand’s – have a slightly easier time converting their licences.
For commercial licences, applicants from these countries must fill out an application form, verify their identity, prove their eyesight meets required standards, provide a medical certificate (if required), present the overseas licence and take a theory test.
An application fee must be paid, alongside having pictures, taking signatures and providing photocopies of all documents provided.
The exempt countries are Australia, France, Luxembourg, Sweden, Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, Greece, Norway, the United Kingdom, Canada, Ireland, Portugal, the United States, Denmark, Italy, South Africa, Finland, Japan and Spain.
Applicants from non-exempt countries must complete the above steps and also take a practical test.
