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Annual report
Purpose: To identify people who have sold more than six motor vehicles in a 12-month period and are not registered as motor vehicle traders.
NZTA disclosure to MBIE: NZTA provides MBIE with the full name, date of birth and address of all individuals or entities who have sold more than six vehicles in a 12-month period.
MBIE disclosure to NZTA: MBIE provides NZTA with the full name, date of birth, address and trader unique identifier of new motor vehicle traders so that these traders are excluded from future programme runs.
Compliance: Compliant.
| Information matching provision | Motor Vehicle Sales Act 2003, ss.122 and 123 |
| Year authorised | 2003 |
| Year commenced | 2008 |
| Programme type | Detecting illegal behaviour |
| Unique identifiers | Motor vehicle trader file number |
| On-line transfers | Yes |
System description
Each month, New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) sends MBIE, by SEEMail online transfer, a file of all individuals or entities who have sold more than six vehicles in a 12 month period. NZTA maintains a record of registered traders (through MBIE providing monthly registered trader updates to NZTA) so that transfers to MBIE exclude individuals or entities already registered as Motor Vehicle Traders.
MBIE manually compares the NZTA data with its Motor Vehicle Traders Register to identify unregistered individuals and companies. Before MBIE issues a s.181 notice to an individual[1] whom it believes should register as a motor vehicle trader, it requests the following additional information from NZTA in relation to each vehicle:
If, following the review of the extra information received, it appears that the individual or entity should be registered, MBIE sends a s.103 notice (notice of adverse action) requesting registration within 10 working days, or an explanation to the Registrar about why the individual or entity does not need to be registered. Failure to respond to the notice may result in a referral to the Registrar’s National Enforcement Unit for possible prosecution under the Motor Vehicle Sales Act.
MBIE also access the file from NZTA to conduct manual look-ups if a complaint is received. The person who performs the information matching programme is authorised to perform the look-up on behalf of all other investigating staff. A privacy register is maintained to record details of each access to NZTA data for complaints purposes, and a summary report of this activity is provided to this Office.
| 2019/20 | 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | |
| Match runs | 12 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Records received for matching | 28,316 | 30,138 | 29,668 | 29,668 |
| Individuals or entities checked by matching | 3,237 | 41579 | 0 | 0 |
| Individuals or entities of interest identified | 647 | 41 | 0 | 0 |
| Notices of adverse action sent | 647 | 41 | 0 | 0 |
| Successful challenges: registered under another name | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Successful challenges: primary purpose not financial gain | 170 | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| Entities referred for investigation | 275 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| Registrations as a result of notices of adverse action | 45 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
* The basis of reporting changed in 2014/15. The "Records received for matching" figures for 2012/13 and 2013/14 are not counted on the basis as subsequent figures. The number of "Individuals or entities checked by matching" was not reported until 2014/15. The sending of second notices was stopped in 2016/17 when the process was re-organised.
MBIE Privacy Register - Customs and NZTA Data Accesses
MBIE made 17 ad hoc requests for information from Customs and NZTA. These resulted in further action being taken in five cases.
The utility of this provision was assessed in the report MBIE, IR and NZTA Matches (August 2014), and subsequently in Accident Compensation Corporation, Department of Internal Affairs, and Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (Motor Vehicle Traders Register) information matching (Feb 2020).
[1] For administrative convenience, and for the benefit of corporate persons, a notice is sent to the matched entity whether they are an individual or a corporate body such as a company or a trust. The statistics reported for this match include both individuals and other entities.
