Car rego blues

I’ve got it, lets just make cyclists pay rego/road tax!

Lower car rego as compensation for having to share the road with frustrating cyclists.

EVERYBODY WINS!

The Antichrist said :

AG Canberra said :

Rego/CTP is just about the only ACT Gov charge that can not be paid fortnightly/monthly. As soon as one of the parties in our toy assembly propose this I will vote for them.

Rego is the only payment that can’t be arranged via regular direct debit. Why?

You’ll be waiting a long time mate – it will never happen.

Why ? Rego is not something like an electricity bill or a gas bill. Cars get bought and sold and crashed all the time. Owners move interstate, cars move interstate…..there are far too many variations for something with such low intrinsic value as a car – vs the steady and ongoing nature of household bills for household utilities.

The assumption that every motorist will continue to own the same vehicle for 12 months cannot be sustained as it would need to be, in order to support a fortnightly deduction for rego for every car owner. Cheap shitheaps get bought and sold every day of the week…..trying to work out fortnightly payment balances and refunds etc etc would be an administrative nightmatre and probably add $100pa to the cost of rego !!

Oh of course unless you support the OP’s belief that admin fees are nothing more than government profiteering and it costs nothing to register your vehicle……

I’m not sure it would be as much of an administrative nightmare as you make out. People buy and sell cars and move interstate now and they have the option of 3 month rego, so with a weekly of fortnightly payment as soon as their circumstances change they could just go into MVR or Shopfront and notify them or perhaps it could even be done over the phone and then the payments would stop or transfer over to the new vehicle they have bought. People buy and sell houses all the time and the govt seems to cope with fortnightly (or is it monthly?) electricity and water/sewerage deductions.

Not sure how the user pays system would work, i can imagine a large number of tampered odometers.

Felix the Cat said :

Having a user pays system would be much fairer based on the kms you travel, perhaps they could add say 20c per litre to the price of petrol to cover it

Now that is something I would like to see…user pays. So the vehicles that create more wear and tear and demand space on our roads pay more. Then I could own a ute and a convertible and a 4wd and a little electric thingy and only pay for the amount I use them rather then a lumping great sum of money each year for the occasional use.

I once suggested that to a courier driver who responded “f. that I drive a hundred thousand k’s every year.” Correct…so you should pay more than me.

smeeagain said :

I’m not sure who commented about NRMA being the only CTP provider, but the paragraph below, indicates that you are able to shop around…

http://www.rego.act.gov.au/registrations/regotransferr.htm

At the time of paying the registration fee the Compulsory Third Party Insurance (CTPI) component is also collected. A new CTPI provider cannot be selected upon transfer of registration. A new CTPI provider can be selected upon the next renewal of registration.

First of all, you posted a link to transferring registration when taking ownership of a vehicle.

Secondly, it is a well known fact, that there is only one option in the ACT for CPI and that is the NRMA/IAG Group.

Feel free to contact Canberra Connect or ACT Motor registry if you want to prove me wrong.

The ACT Govt offered other insurance companies the option to offer CPI with ACT rego, but only the NRMA/IAG took up the offer to this point in time.

Other Insurers dont see the value for their shareholders in offering CPI in the ACT due to our small population I assume

AG Canberra said :

Rego/CTP is just about the only ACT Gov charge that can not be paid fortnightly/monthly. As soon as one of the parties in our toy assembly propose this I will vote for them.

Rego is the only payment that can’t be arranged via regular direct debit. Why?

You’ll be waiting a long time mate – it will never happen.

Why ? Rego is not something like an electricity bill or a gas bill. Cars get bought and sold and crashed all the time. Owners move interstate, cars move interstate…..there are far too many variations for something with such low intrinsic value as a car – vs the steady and ongoing nature of household bills for household utilities.

The assumption that every motorist will continue to own the same vehicle for 12 months cannot be sustained as it would need to be, in order to support a fortnightly deduction for rego for every car owner. Cheap shitheaps get bought and sold every day of the week…..trying to work out fortnightly payment balances and refunds etc etc would be an administrative nightmatre and probably add $100pa to the cost of rego !! Oh of course unless you support the OP’s belief that admin fees are nothing more than government profiteering and it costs nothing to register your vehicle……

The costs for different periods are on your rego papers so its no surprise. A little late when paying to carry on.

I do like the fact the OP is critical of others based on their ignorance of his position but then goes on to state processing his application “costs nothing” and exhorting the use of a user pays system that is totally unworkable and a complete nonsense. Irony can be pretty ironic.

Felix the Cat said :

As far as the staff of the Motor Registry having to process rego payments quarterly or half yearly they are getting paid to work regardless so there is no extra cost there. They don’t get paid to only process say 10,000 rego renewals per year.[/quote>

Not strictly correct. While true of the individual staff members, the number of transactions processed would play a part in determining how many people they need to employ. The more transactions, the more staff needed, the more cost. Although I doubt its anything like $25 additional cost … the surcharge on the CTP looks more like what it should be.

There is no actual cost for car rego, so it’s all profit for the govt (as has been discussed numerous times on this forum previously car rego just goes into the big pot of govt money called consolidated revenue, it doesn’t actually go specifically towards roads or any other transport infastructure)

The rego part of it is merely a tax. If it wasn’t collected via rego the government would just slug people some other way.

I’m not sure who commented about NRMA being the only CTP provider, but the paragraph below, indicates that you are able to shop around…

http://www.rego.act.gov.au/registrations/regotransferr.htm

At the time of paying the registration fee the Compulsory Third Party Insurance (CTPI) component is also collected. A new CTPI provider cannot be selected upon transfer of registration. A new CTPI provider can be selected upon the next renewal of registration.

It’s going to take a while for the vehicle registration system to catch up with advances in enforcement (namely RAPID), but I expect that we’ll be going the stickerless route before long. Once the stickers are gone, the flexibility for fortnightly payments, etc will be much greater. Whether that flexibility leads to actual changes is another matter, of course.

Interesting that people feel they’re qualified to comment on my financial affairs even though none of you know me or what I earn or what my expenses are. Amazing.

My OP was more about the “system” rather than my personal financial affairs. A few people read my original (and subsequent) post and understood what I was getting at but most just jumped on the “me too” bandwagon and just accused me of financial mismanagement.

As far as the staff of the Motor Registry having to process rego payments quarterly or half yearly they are getting paid to work regardless so there is no extra cost there. They don’t get paid to only process say 10,000 rego renewals per year.

There is no actual cost for car rego, so it’s all profit for the govt (as has been discussed numerous times on this forum previously car rego just goes into the big pot of govt money called consolidated revenue, it doesn’t actually go specifically towards roads or any other transport infastructure)

Having a user pays system would be much fairer based on the kms you travel, perhaps they could add say 20c per litre to the price of petrol to cover it. Or, as someone else suggested a weekly/fortnightly payment system would be handy too.

I thought this topic was about the Blue rego stickers for 2013 lol.

Suck it up, just paid 12 months for my hatchback $830.

Dont like it move to Quangers.

Not to mention the additional costs that processing your rego twice a year puts on the ACT Gov such as:
Credit card processing fee, postage and envelopes(as you’ve said), the cost of an extra sticker over the year (which the replacement cost is charged at $20), and the cost of the staff having to process additional requests.

I think it’s quite fair to charge the extra fees then absorb it and everyone else having to pay higher rego fees for the year. Because that’s what will happen if they remove those fees, your rego costs will be an additional $30 a year……

Whiile I understand the OP’s point about the extra cost of 6 months rego, compared to 12 months, this is just chicken-feed compared to the true total annual cost of running a car.

Estimates vary from $5000 to $9000 per year of total costs of having a car for the average user. This includes rego, insurance, depreciation, interest, fuel, maintenance etc. Does not include parking fees or fines.

This equates to between $13 to $24 per day. Every day.

Rego/CTP is just about the only ACT Gov charge that can not be paid fortnightly/monthly. As soon as one of the parties in our toy assembly propose this I will vote for them.

Rego is the only payment that can’t be arranged via regular direct debit. Why?

Mysteryman said :

They said they would eliminate the extra cost to 3 and 6 month registrations, not remove the option

thanks for clearing that up. 🙂

Frustrated said :

Paying $1000 p/a for a 1700kg Falcon is more than outrageous

It sure is – we don’t even pay that much for a 2700kg Landcruiser ! Paying $560 p.a for CTP for this sort of vehicle is pretty good in comparison to other jurisdictions.

Frustrated said :

I’ll have a whinge, Due to the TPI, ACT vehicle registration is friggin joke.

Paying $1000 p/a for a 1700kg Falcon is more than outrageous.

Too right, the actual rego component for the average car is only around $250-$300pa which is not unreasonable. What is unreasonable is paying $526 for insurance regardless of your driving history.

basketcase said :

“If you pay your rego twice a year instead of once, they have to pay staff to process it twice as often…”

That’s codswallop. just goes into a computer and an extra buck for the postage and printing.

You are of course assuming that everyone is paying on the internet. Go to a gov shopfront one day and you will see there are still a heap of people paying in person. So if people were to pay twice as often by paying every 6 months then there is an additional staff cost there.

And of course if the gov were to make it cheaper to pay on the net your would then have someone else whinging how they being disadvantaged and ripped off for paying in person, but alas guess you think it is all some gov conspiracy to keep the poor poor.

actually you wont be able to look at car rego stickers for much longer. i heard andrew cappie wood mention they would be phased out, at a combined community councils meeting last year. they have already been phased out in WA. i dont know if a date has been set or official decision made yet though.

clarification – they will abolish the admin fee – not the ability to register cars for a three month period.

as a member of a few local car clubs, i can assure you there are thousands of cars in Canberra that get 6 months rego a year – for the summer only when the car shows are on. many cars then sit in garages after easter until sep/oct.

wander around ‘marques in the park’ or ‘terribly british’ day and look at the rego stickers.

it is a good option and i’m glad we have it. i just dont understand how anyone can argue that paying a fee for a service – processing the rego and mailing your sticker to you 4 times a year because you CHOOSE to pay four times – is unfair.

I’ll have a whinge, Due to the TPI, ACT vehicle registration is friggin joke.

Paying $1000 p/a for a 1700kg Falcon is more than outrageous.

If you do the comparison with other states, Canberrans are being ripped off blind as usual.

The fact that NRMA/IAG were they only company who took up the offer of providing the TPI, shows what a disaster the ACT Govt with that decision to off the TPI to market. NRMA have the market and charge whatever the hell they like.

The Antichrist said :

damien haas said :

the liberals announced they planned to abolish this when (if) they come to office

why would they bother doing this ? Having the option to pay for less than 12 months is a great option for those that have more than 1 vehicle and where that vehicle is only used for 3 or 6 months ?

Forcing punters to pay 12 months in every case, is just going to result in more, not less, unregistered vehicles on our roads. Not something that the Liberal Party should be pushing for I would have thought ? The RAPID scheme has already made huge inroads into reducing the number of unregistered shitheaps off our roads……why reduce the effectiveness of this scheme ?

Felix – reducing those lareg annual rego fees is exactly what the 3 and 6 month options allow – even with that small admin fee tacked on top. This flexibility is a great option. I have no sympathy for punters who give themselves a large rego bill around Xmas, its ludicrous. 1 renewal for 6 months is all it takes to fix that problem…….

They said they would eliminate the extra cost to 3 and 6 month registrations, not remove the option.

I’ll happily register my car for 12 months, BiffLoman, once you transfer the funds for me to do so. Unfotunately I have had quite a few unexpected bills to pay recently that I hadn’t budgeted for so don’t have the money to do it myself.

Send you money, Felix? I don’t think so. You can barely handle your bills as it is!

I just renewed my NSW car rego for 6 months for much the same reasons, a week ago. I can assure you it cost me more than $31 more. Further, with the compulsory pink slip every 12 months, where the mechanic will always find $200-$500 of work that must be done, it will cost quite a lot more when I renew in 6 months if I elect to renew for 12 months.

Fee for service, simple as that.

Perhaps you would prefer if everything was free, the we could all have the same thing. We wouldn’t earn any money though as we wouldn’t need it. Whether you see that as some sort of Star Trek utopia or communism is up to you.

damien haas said :

the liberals announced they planned to abolish this when (if) they come to office

why would they bother doing this ? Having the option to pay for less than 12 months is a great option for those that have more than 1 vehicle and where that vehicle is only used for 3 or 6 months ?

Forcing punters to pay 12 months in every case, is just going to result in more, not less, unregistered vehicles on our roads. Not something that the Liberal Party should be pushing for I would have thought ? The RAPID scheme has already made huge inroads into reducing the number of unregistered shitheaps off our roads……why reduce the effectiveness of this scheme ?

Felix – reducing those lareg annual rego fees is exactly what the 3 and 6 month options allow – even with that small admin fee tacked on top. This flexibility is a great option. I have no sympathy for punters who give themselves a large rego bill around Xmas, its ludicrous. 1 renewal for 6 months is all it takes to fix that problem…….

I have wondered for a long time why the rego/CTP system is set up around fixed amounts when clearly those who drive more use more of the services and incur more of the risks. (Whether or not they may be better drivers is less relevant than the fact that they will be on the road more).
Would it be smart/possible to have a modest registration charge reflecting what it costs to maintain the registration system and recover the rest of the money through a surcharge on every litre of fuel? The more fuel you use, the more you pay – it might even encourage people to move towards efficient vehicles. I’d guess someone smart knows why it wouldn’t work, even if introduced nationally. Please let me know.

Felix, I am not trying to be a prick when I say this but be thankful that you can do this, I think the ACT is the only jurisdiction that allows you to pay rego for half the year.

Whoever said that the high cost is not the CTP needs to look around. I have a mate in NSW that pays $300 less than I do to keep a vehicle on the road each year. The NRMA are the only CTP provider and as such there is not competition as in NSW with the green slip system.

@Damien Haas – Are they going to abolish the ability to pay quarterly rego or the fee?

Felix the Cat said :

BenMac said :

Felix the Cat, you mustn’t have been on this site very long, cause you’re going to get zero sympathy from others.

Charging you more than half is an insentive for you to pay the for the whole year. Is this the first time you’ve paid rego?

Been a member here for several years, BenMac. I have a bit of an idea how things work here. Not wanting sympathy, just an intelligent discussion about the matter would do.

You’re whole first paragraph is a total whinge. +3 or 4 (whatever we’re up to) about budgeting next time.

By the same logic, people should be excused for robbing houses and stealing their plasma TVs because TVs are so darn expensive.

“If you pay your rego twice a year instead of once, they have to pay staff to process it twice as often…”

That’s codswallop. just goes into a computer and an extra buck for the postage and printing.

It simply a government policy to oppress those who are not wealthy. Other examples are:
1. Get the poor to pay for the solar panels bought by the rich.
2. Charge land rent to those who can’t afford to buy houses but have to rent instead.

I am sure there are others.

Since most of the decisions are made by people on $200K+ or more I guess, they would have zero idea of what it is like to wonder where your next two bob is coming from.

Even the ALP has deserted the needy. We will end up like the US where 1% or less of the population control 99% or more of the wealth.

End of rant

Felix the Cat said :

I was saying that you hear about the police having blitzes on unregistered vehicles with quite high numbers being caught and this number would likely decrease if the costs for registering vehicles were less.

You really think a $25 fee is what is preventing most unregistered vehicle’s owners from paying their rego?

Wow…

+1 to everyone who’s suggested you budget in future – and if your budget includes an emergency fund then you won’t have issues paying any “unexpected bills” you get…

arescarti42 said :

…have you contacted whatever the relevant authority is and asked them why you were charged an additional $6.05?.

+1, before you whinge about something, at least attempt to find out why

the liberals announced they planned to abolish this when (if) they come to office.

frankly i dont see it as an issue – the admin fee should be the same whether you pay three times or once. every transaction has the same cost.

the bigger con is the high cost of rego in the act. we have less accidents than other states so why the disparity? dont tell me its the insurance component either – i make one payment to the act gov.

i own a couple of cars and pay a big insurance whack – i dont see why i should subsidize those that dont. there needs to be a mechanism where people with insurance can opt out of the CTP component – making it CTPIFTTDITC (compulsory third party insurance for those that dont insure their cars).

any charge that exceeds actual costs (act gov admin and rego fee) is called a tax. we pay enough tax already.

“there is no reason, it doesn’t cost ACT govt any more to process 6 months rego than it does 12 months (except maybe an envelope and postage costs)”

If you pay your rego twice a year instead of once, they have to pay staff to process it twice as often…

Why not look at it as they are rewarding people for paying the full 12 months as opposed to penalising people for paying less than 12 months.

It’s exactly the same as companies that give you a discount if you pay your premiums at once instead of monthly, i.e. insurance, rates.

I for one would definitely prefer that the option is there to pay less than 12 months but without getting a discount. Other states don’t have that option.

BenMac said :

Felix the Cat, you mustn’t have been on this site very long, cause you’re going to get zero sympathy from others.

Charging you more than half is an insentive for you to pay the for the whole year. Is this the first time you’ve paid rego?

Been a member here for several years, BenMac. I have a bit of an idea how things work here. Not wanting sympathy, just an intelligent discussion about the matter would do.

To recap my original post, as most seem have seem to have only skim read it, I was saying that you hear about the police having blitzes on unregistered vehicles with quite high numbers being caught and this number would likely decrease if the costs for registering vehicles were less.

I’ll happily register my car for 12 months, BiffLoman, once you transfer the funds for me to do so. Unfotunately I have had quite a few unexpected bills to pay recently that I hadn’t budgeted for so don’t have the money to do it myself.

We have 2 cars as me and Mr SupaSal work shift work, he is interstate and i’m 10 mins drive away – Dec 24 for one car and Jan 24 for the other both just under $1000 for Rego and CTPI, I know these bills are due then and money is there to pay for it even if it means Christmas has to be a bit late to pay for them – after all NO Car No Money

…have you contacted whatever the relevant authority is and asked them why you were charged an additional $6.05?

I suspect the $6 difference is the privilege you pay for only buying 6 months CTP.

Felix the Cat, you mustn’t have been on this site very long, cause you’re going to get zero sympathy from others.

Charging you more than half is an insentive for you to pay the for the whole year. Is this the first time you’ve paid rego?

Here’s an idea. Seeing that you know every year when your rego is due , why don’t you start a Christmas club account with your bank or credit union and divide the cost of rego and insurance by fifty two weeks and hey presto you have funds for rego every year.

The extra 6 comes from CTP, so thank the NRMA for that.

Anyway just want to say welcome to the real world, nothing is as simple as you seem to think.

I suspect the $6.05 is some sort of whinging tax. Sheesh. Pay the 12 months next time.

They slug you the full extra admin fee for 3 months rego as well – mabe they should cut that in half when you only pay for 3 months rego ?

Its not like rego renewal sort of creeps up on you like a surprise is it ? Is it the governments fault that you can’t budget properly for known bills ? Why does everyone want a free ride ?

Simple – budget for your rego renewal and try to time it so it doesn’t fall directly after Xmas. Yes this may cost you $25 for the privelege, but at least you will only have to pay it once. Put money away for known bills ( and you do know about it 12 months in advance) – and you won’t have to pay any admin fees ! yay 🙂

Personally – I am quite happy to pay a small surcharge for the flexibility of renewing rego for only 3 months in every 12. This works well for those of us with more than 1 vehicle but don’t require it all year round.