Registration needs to be paid within 7 days?

Sheesh.. stress less. I think I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve been pulled over with an out of date sticker on the car, or no sticker at all, and never had a problem as long as the car is registered. It takes the officer literally 20 seconds to check, and the rapid cameras are almost instantaneous.

Having said that, I’m not condoning driving around all day without a sticker on your car, but I used to leave some of my vehicles unregistered for months and only put 3 months on them the day I needed to use them, and then use them for that period before garaging again. If I had to wait for Road services to post a sticker out every time I’d be waiting a long time.

Keijidosha said :

in WA they don’t even have rego stickers. Apparently they’ve worked out that with the invention of licence plate scanning devices that Police can verify the validity of vehicle registration without the need for a printed sticker.

That’s all fine when every police vehicle has number plate recognition. Don’t expect it to happen here anytime soon.

Snarky said :

Since the primary check these days would be RAPID, which relies on the database being correct rather than a sticker on a window, I’d be inclined just to make sure the payment is made rather than fret about a bit of adhesive – put it on when you get it.

There are 3 RAPID cars in the ACT. There are how many hundreds of police officers? The primary check is still a visual check of a rego label which indicates whether the vehicle is registered or not. Expect to be pulled over if it’s not current for a rego check.

OP, I wouldn’t concern yourself over having a label that’s a few days out. If you have the old label still on months later – that’s when you might expect a $99 fine for not putting on the new label.

Pesonally, I don’t blame the government for not sending out labels until it’s paid. I can just imagine all the people that would wack the new label on before it’s paid (or not even bothering to pay) because they think they won’t get caught as they have a current label on the windscreen.

You can only get your label over the counter if you pay in person at a shopfront. However, when you pay for your registration electronically you recieve an invoice/reference number. I have checked with RegoACT and if you get pulled over by Mr Plod you can give them this number and they can check to ensure that your registration is valid and that you are awaiting delivery of the window sticker.

If you want to talk about RegoACT being behind the times, in WA they don’t even have rego stickers. Apparently they’ve worked out that with the invention of licence plate scanning devices that Police can verify the validity of vehicle registration without the need for a printed sticker.

Having been caught in this trap previously when the rego label took 4 weeks to arrive after making payment, I was pulled over by the AFP suspecting an unregistered car.

I had kept the reciept number and the date of payment, so they phoned it through to confirm the story and let me go.

Not surprisingly, when I arrived home, the label was in the mailbox.

Anyway – for face to face payment, you should be able to make it at Dickson rego or any ACT Govt shopfront.

I frequently only pay my rego either the day before, or sometimes even only an hour before the last one expires, so of course I don’t have a valid sticker on the car. If that’s the case I print off the receipt (I pay online) and carry that in the car with me. It’s never been an issue.

Since the primary check these days would be RAPID, which relies on the database being correct rather than a sticker on a window, I’d be inclined just to make sure the payment is made rather than fret about a bit of adhesive – put it on when you get it.

I’m never organised enough to pay by mail. I just go to Dickson and pay it over the counter, so unless something has changed in the last 12 months, you should be able to pay over the counter at any shopfront. Just give Canberra Connect a ring and ask them. The number should be on your renewal form.