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New Zealand law explained for everyone

Land Transport Act 1998

Motor vehicle registration and licensing - Registration plates

260: Acquisition and disposal of personalised plates

You could also call this:

“Rules for getting and using special car number plates”

If you want to get personalised plates for your vehicle, you have a few options. You can ask the person in charge to buy the right to use a specific combination of letters and numbers. You can also ask to change your current plates to personalised ones with the same letters and numbers. Another option is to buy the right to use a specific combination from someone else, even if the plates haven’t been made yet.

Once you have personalised plates, you can do different things with them. You can sell them to someone else if you want. You can also move them between different vehicles that you own. If you don’t want them anymore, you can give them back and get ordinary plates instead.

It’s important to know that there are rules about how you can transfer, sell, or get rid of personalised plates. You need to follow these rules when you do anything with your plates.

The government also has rules about how personalised plates are given out. These rules must be followed when you get your plates.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM3705503.

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259: Contract to dispose of rights to personalised plates, or

"Rules for selling special number plates"

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Part 17 Motor vehicle registration and licensing
Registration plates

260Acquisition and disposal of personalised plates

  1. A person who wishes to purchase or otherwise acquire personalised plates, or the exclusive right specified in section 259, may—

  2. apply to the authorised person referred to in section 259—
    1. to purchase the exclusive right specified in section 259; or
      1. to convert the existing registration plates of a motor vehicle to personalised plates bearing the same combination of letters and numbers as the existing plates; or
      2. purchase that exclusive right on the open market, whether or not the personalised plates have been manufactured.

        1. A person who purchases or otherwise acquires personalised plates, or the exclusive right specified in section 259, may—

        2. sell or otherwise dispose of them to any other person; or
          1. transfer them between motor vehicles owned by that person; or
            1. surrender them for ordinary plates.

              1. Despite anything in subsections (1) and (2), a person transferring, selling, disposing of, acquiring, or surrendering personalised plates must transfer, sell, dispose of, acquire, or surrender the plates in accordance with any regulations made under this Part.

              2. Personalised plates must be issued in accordance with any regulations made under this Part.

              Compare
              Notes
              • Section 260: inserted, on , by section 32(11) of the Land Transport Amendment Act 2009 (2009 No 17).