27 June 2013

Say goodbye to your rego sticker

| johnboy
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Simon Corbell is ramming home the point that from 1 July you won’t have a registration stickers in the windows of your cars.

“Registration labels will be scrapped for vehicles with a Gross Vehicle Mass of up to 4.5 tonnes which includes the majority of cars, light trailers, caravans, motorbikes and light buses on ACT roads,” Mr Corbell said.

“The ACT Government is committed to ensuring our processes are smoother and more convenient for the community.

“Abolishing registration labels will mean less time spent waiting at shopfronts, as registration payments can be made online, by telephone, mail, or through BPAY or Australia Post with no need to collect a label.

“All other aspects of the registration process will remain the same. Drivers will still receive registration certificates and renewal reminders will continue to be sent out approximately six weeks before the registration expires.

“Police are now able to use on-the-spot camera technology to check a vehicle’s registration status so the labels are no longer required.

Protective parents on the other hand won’t have a quick reference to see the cars their kids are getting in are legit.


UPDATE: There’s also a fact sheet.

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Tetranitrate said :

gooterz said :

goggles13 said :

I would like all ACT Govt notices (e.g. rego renewal and rates) come to me via email. How hard would this be to setup? would have to be cheaper.

Email is totally insecure

Well yeah, but the mail isn’t that amazing either.
As far as reminders or notices for rates/rego go, there’s not that much fraud that can be done with BPay details. They’d just need to be relatively smart about what’s in the email.

I wouldn’t mind if someone hacked into my email and paid my bills through BPay!

johnboy said :

You could buy a packet of post it notes from the supermarket?

I was in WA just after this change was introduced there, and noticed a lot of advertisements for unofficial rego stickers that you could put on your car to (presumably) remind you of your expiry date. It’s amazing what people will pay money for.

gooterz said :

goggles13 said :

I would like all ACT Govt notices (e.g. rego renewal and rates) come to me via email. How hard would this be to setup? would have to be cheaper.

Email is totally insecure

I promise you that it is harder to get into my email then to get to my snail mail, which sits in an unlocked letterbox (that doesn’t close properly anyway) on a quiet street in a country town and gets put there about 10:30am and sits there until I get home at 6:30pm-ish.

My main email on the other hand has a 24 character password that is made of a string of letters, numbers and special characters based on an algorithm that I made up for myself and is unique to every other password I use. It is also not written down anywhere or stored in a password lockbox program or any of my browsers (I only browse email in incognito mode with no cookies). Same rules apply for my internet banking accounts.

Being secure online is not hard. I don’t use public computers and I use a VPN when I am on public wifi. Keeping your mail secure is next to impossible without a big outlay or serious measures to ensure security.

devils_advocate10:52 am 01 Jul 13

I have a number of cars myself, and I find rego stickers an invaluable way of keeping track of which ones are registered at any given time.

I also find it useful for keeping track of the registration of vehicles that I regularly drive, but which are primarily used by family members.

In theory there are ways I could get around this – phone up canberra connect, be extra careful to hold onto the paperwork/reciepts etc – but none are as convenient as having a semi-permanent sticker affixed in an easily visible place. I commonly check rego when I step into a car that I’m driving.

Even if rego stickers are no longer required, will we be able to get them from the shopfront still?

You could buy a packet of post it notes from the supermarket?

Sticker is gone… My rego only expired the other day, given I didn’t drive the car over the weekend I didn’t see the need to place the new sticker on the windscreen for the car to sit in my driveway…

I have to be honest, I never look at the sticker of a car I’m about to get into. I do believe it is a reasonable assumption that if the car is been driven on the road, then the owner has registered their car. I know that it’s not a 100% certainty of course, but…

Also when I was younger, I thought nothing of driving my mates car. I again never asked if their car was registered as it was sort of a given IMHO…

johnboy said :

Well in this scenario look at your watch and note the location for the total tracking system to lock the culprit,

Even better ping an offence in on your phone via the police app we should have had two years ago…

I don’t think the identification of a vehicle should be dependent on whether someone has a specific piece of equipment on them, be it a scanner, an accurate time piece, or a smart phone loaded with a particular app.

magiccar9 said :

Some food for thought. Do we need rego stickers AND number plates at all? I mean, who/what are the systems that use them… fixed and mobile speed cameras, red light cameras, police patrols. Couldn’t we achieve a lot more by having a simple e-tag like system that has a unique identifier in it? That way speed cameras could detect a simple signal from the device (already working on NSW motorways) to identify vehicles. Similarly police patrols could have a mobile scanner of the same sort to check the usual details of the vehicle. This would also make it significantly more difficult for thieves interested in number plates.

Would a system like this work? Ignoring the obvious argument of dollars.

I guess as long as all members of the public have scanners fitted to their cars so they can identify the person who just hit them and failed to stop…

Well in this scenario look at your watch and note the location for the total tracking system to lock the culprit,

Even better ping an offence in on your phone via the police app we should have had two years ago…

Some food for thought. Do we need rego stickers AND number plates at all? I mean, who/what are the systems that use them… fixed and mobile speed cameras, red light cameras, police patrols. Couldn’t we achieve a lot more by having a simple e-tag like system that has a unique identifier in it? That way speed cameras could detect a simple signal from the device (already working on NSW motorways) to identify vehicles. Similarly police patrols could have a mobile scanner of the same sort to check the usual details of the vehicle. This would also make it significantly more difficult for thieves interested in number plates.

Would a system like this work? Ignoring the obvious argument of dollars.

Tetranitrate6:22 pm 30 Jun 13

gooterz said :

goggles13 said :

I would like all ACT Govt notices (e.g. rego renewal and rates) come to me via email. How hard would this be to setup? would have to be cheaper.

Email is totally insecure

Well yeah, but the mail isn’t that amazing either.
As far as reminders or notices for rates/rego go, there’s not that much fraud that can be done with BPay details. They’d just need to be relatively smart about what’s in the email.

goggles13 said :

I would like all ACT Govt notices (e.g. rego renewal and rates) come to me via email. How hard would this be to setup? would have to be cheaper.

Email is totally insecure

I would like all ACT Govt notices (e.g. rego renewal and rates) come to me via email. How hard would this be to setup? would have to be cheaper.

wildturkeycanoe8:45 am 30 Jun 13

tim_c said :

wildturkeycanoe said :

I can see this as a problem in the following example:

You are at a mate’s place, there is drinking to excess and people need a lift home. You oblige as the sober person but having no vehicle, they offer you your mate’s car. No sticker on the window but he assures you it is registered. Do you push the friendship by asking for registration papers? Do you take his word and go driving not knowing if it is true and then get collared by the red’n’blues for driving an unregistered and uninsured vehicle? Who has the time to get on the net via mobile (if you have access) and check every vehicle you may be asked to drive? I see the courts coming to grief with unawares people getting booked for simple mistakes that could have avoided by a simple piece of plastic.

It might depend what kind of company you keep – my friends keep their cars registered, so I wouldn’t even have to ask the question. Meanwhile, other/previous acquaintances I wouldn’t even bother to ask. You should know which category each of your mates falls into.

Further, do you ask for evidence of third party property insurance as a minimum (in case you bump someone else’s car)? Do you ask for a current certificate of roadworthiness, or you just assume the brakes and everything else still work? If you can’t trust your mates, maybe you shouldn’t trust your mates.

This doesn’t apply to me as I have no friends. I’m sure there are hundreds if not thousands of people, perhaps of the younger generations, who would have friends of friends, be at parties or get-togethers of sorts where this could happen. You have a valid point about TPPI though. How many of us drive company or business vehicles and have actually asked to see the insurance paperwork prior to getting on the road? I wonder how many unscrupulous bosses are out there? We already have figures for unregistered vehicles on the road and I’m sure because it isn’t compulsory the insurance is a more overlooked issue.

Haha, I just stuck my rego sticker on today.

Won’t somebody think of the trailers!!!

wildturkeycanoe said :

I can see this as a problem in the following example:

You are at a mate’s place, there is drinking to excess and people need a lift home. You oblige as the sober person but having no vehicle, they offer you your mate’s car. No sticker on the window but he assures you it is registered. Do you push the friendship by asking for registration papers? Do you take his word and go driving not knowing if it is true and then get collared by the red’n’blues for driving an unregistered and uninsured vehicle? Who has the time to get on the net via mobile (if you have access) and check every vehicle you may be asked to drive? I see the courts coming to grief with unawares people getting booked for simple mistakes that could have avoided by a simple piece of plastic.

It might depend what kind of company you keep – my friends keep their cars registered, so I wouldn’t even have to ask the question. Meanwhile, other/previous acquaintances I wouldn’t even bother to ask. You should know which category each of your mates falls into.

Further, do you ask for evidence of third party property insurance as a minimum (in case you bump someone else’s car)? Do you ask for a current certificate of roadworthiness, or you just assume the brakes and everything else still work? If you can’t trust your mates, maybe you shouldn’t trust your mates.

La_Tour_Maubourg2:17 pm 28 Jun 13

“Abolishing registration labels will mean less time spent waiting at shopfronts, as registration payments can be made online, by telephone, mail, or through BPAY or Australia Post with no need to collect a label.

This paragraph is not valid; as you can easily already pay registration through Internet etc. Unless for those who wait for the label with anticipation. Just another way the government cuts printing costs without reducing registration fees.

c_c™ said :

Reprobate said :

“Technically required”? If you mean legally obliged, please say so and link to the relevant legislation. I think you’ll find that’s a requirement in the US but not here, where (as others have said) the preference is NOT to keep your papers in the car. Otherwise a dbag can steal the car and use the papers with a forged signature to sell it to a dealer or private seller.

BTW here’s the NSW explanation of their change to rego label laws – much more comprehensive than the ACT version:

http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/registration/abolish_labels/index.html

Interesting that subsequent posters changed the word I used which was ‘have’ to words like ‘keep’ in the vehicle.
Not what I said.

Have the certificate in the vehicle when your using it, in your wallet ideally. Rego stickers do get stolen just like number plates do.

The advice in South Australia where they abolished stickers reflects this;

SA says “All police in Australia are able to access information about South Australian vehicle registration. Interstate jurisdictions have been advised that South Australian light vehicles are no longer required to display registration labels.”

However, they also advise:

“You should always retain your registration details certificate with payment receipt details.

The registration details certificate includes a tear-off section that can be kept in the glove box, as it contains no personal information or important vehicle identifiers.”

Hopefully the ACT will also include a special section that can safely be kept in the vehicle, but it not, I’d be keeping the certificate in my wallet if interstate. I wouldn’t rely on the interstate police being able to check the rego.

So, the handy tear off section includes no personal or vehicle identifiers… So the only possible use is to either prove you paid rego for a vehicle (any vehicle), or provide a receipt number the cops can look up in a database….. The same database could tell them the details of your rego?

TAD said :

The ACT Govt is putting a lot of faith in the AFP’s plate recognition system RAPID to automatically detect your unregistered vehicle driving around.

This will however only know the rego details of ACT plates, so if an unregistered vehicle has interstate plates, this system won’t be able to tell.

Stupid, stupid decision

RAPID hooks into the REG.ACT database which is in turn hooked up to NEVDIS, the national database.

p1 said :

I think from now on I’ll just write the rego expiry date on my front number plate.

If you don’t have a smartphone to set a reminder, steal a post-it note from work, write the renewal date/month in texta and stick it on your windscreen. Tah dah, your very own rego reminder sticker!

The two new CTPI providers will be operational from the 15th of July. There’s only one provider shown on my renewal, but my rego isn’t due until the 18th so I’m hoping to take advantage of the new system!

bd84 said :

NSW has been quite smart and developed an app where you can check the status of your rego, set reminders and pay your rego renewal.

That’s nothing a calendar app and internet banking can’t do for you. If they are going to develop an app it should do something actually useful, like take a picture of a plate and return the expiry date of it’s registration.

p1 said :

I wonder if they have considered setting up direct debit for people to pay rego? Every three/six/12 months the money could just come out of my account…

Make it fortnightly and I’d be very interested!

JessP said :

I paid my rego online recently – it was due for renewal for 2 July. Paid early – just before the annuncement that i could have shopped around on my third party insiurance – blah!

Got paper work sent to me with a LABEL. Which I have attached to my car…..but now seems I didnt have to. Double blah.

I renewed my rego back in May… Completely forgot to put the new sticker on… Guess I don’t have to now… Oops !

JessP said :

I paid my rego online recently – it was due for renewal for 2 July. Paid early – just before the annuncement that i could have shopped around on my third party insiurance – blah!

Got paper work sent to me with a LABEL. Which I have attached to my car…..but now seems I didnt have to. Double blah.

My rego (due end of July) only lists NRMA and says “Only one CTPI provider will be included on renewal notices until the approval process for additional providers is completed.”

So I guess The Announcement was a little premature.

I paid my rego online recently – it was due for renewal for 2 July. Paid early – just before the annuncement that i could have shopped around on my third party insiurance – blah!

Got paper work sent to me with a LABEL. Which I have attached to my car…..but now seems I didnt have to. Double blah.

I think from now on I’ll just write the rego expiry date on my front number plate.

Since we don’t need vehicle safety checks to renew rego, I wonder if they have considered setting up direct debit for people to pay rego? Every three/six/12 months the money could just come out of my account, and then I would just have to now worry for the next thirty years?

The ACT Govt is putting a lot of faith in the AFP’s plate recognition system RAPID to automatically detect your unregistered vehicle driving around.

This will however only know the rego details of ACT plates, so if an unregistered vehicle has interstate plates, this system won’t be able to tell.

Stupid, stupid decision

and, if they aren’t mailing the sticker out, will they be mailing anything out ?

cranky said :

So we will be required to carry an A5/A4 sized piece of paper in our wallet instead of a slip of plastic adhered to the windscreen? And this is progress?

Wallet that full huh?

think I’ll scan it at work and keep it on my phone

Does this mean the local council will ditch the $25 ‘administration fee’ for renewing registration for less than 12 months?

If the transaction is completed online and the very expensive plastic sticker doesnt need to be produced and mailed out, surely the cash grab will be dropped. Surely??. . . .

cranky said :

So we will be required to carry an A5/A4 sized piece of paper in our wallet instead of a slip of plastic adhered to the windscreen? And this is progress?

Consider it lucky the paper isn’t hand written… After all it is the ACT Government….

So we will be required to carry an A5/A4 sized piece of paper in our wallet instead of a slip of plastic adhered to the windscreen? And this is progress?

Reprobate said :

“Technically required”? If you mean legally obliged, please say so and link to the relevant legislation. I think you’ll find that’s a requirement in the US but not here, where (as others have said) the preference is NOT to keep your papers in the car. Otherwise a dbag can steal the car and use the papers with a forged signature to sell it to a dealer or private seller.

BTW here’s the NSW explanation of their change to rego label laws – much more comprehensive than the ACT version:

http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/registration/abolish_labels/index.html

Interesting that subsequent posters changed the word I used which was ‘have’ to words like ‘keep’ in the vehicle.
Not what I said.

Have the certificate in the vehicle when your using it, in your wallet ideally. Rego stickers do get stolen just like number plates do.

The advice in South Australia where they abolished stickers reflects this;

SA says “All police in Australia are able to access information about South Australian vehicle registration. Interstate jurisdictions have been advised that South Australian light vehicles are no longer required to display registration labels.”

However, they also advise:

“You should always retain your registration details certificate with payment receipt details.

The registration details certificate includes a tear-off section that can be kept in the glove box, as it contains no personal information or important vehicle identifiers.”

Hopefully the ACT will also include a special section that can safely be kept in the vehicle, but it not, I’d be keeping the certificate in my wallet if interstate. I wouldn’t rely on the interstate police being able to check the rego.

wildturkeycanoe4:53 pm 27 Jun 13

I can see this as a problem in the following example:

You are at a mate’s place, there is drinking to excess and people need a lift home. You oblige as the sober person but having no vehicle, they offer you your mate’s car. No sticker on the window but he assures you it is registered. Do you push the friendship by asking for registration papers? Do you take his word and go driving not knowing if it is true and then get collared by the red’n’blues for driving an unregistered and uninsured vehicle? Who has the time to get on the net via mobile [if you have access] and check every vehicle you may be asked to drive? I see the courts coming to grief with unawares people getting booked for simple mistakes that could have avoided by a simple piece of plastic.

c_c™ said :

You’re technically required to have the rego papers (the certificate which they will continue to send you under the new system and have always received) in the vehicle for checking if required anyway. The sticker is just a convenience for police and inspectors.

“Technically required”? If you mean legally obliged, please say so and link to the relevant legislation. I think you’ll find that’s a requirement in the US but not here, where (as others have said) the preference is NOT to keep your papers in the car. Otherwise a dbag can steal the car and use the papers with a forged signature to sell it to a dealer or private seller.

BTW here’s the NSW explanation of their change to rego label laws – much more comprehensive than the ACT version: http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/registration/abolish_labels/index.html

p1 said :

c_c™ said :

You’re technically required to have the rego papers (the certificate which they will continue to send you under the new system and have always received) in the vehicle for checking if required anyway. The sticker is just a convenience for police and inspectors.

Is this true? I was always taught that you should never leave the rego certificate in the car as it gives a potential thief the paper work needed to sell your car…?

They would require your signature to be able to actually sell your car. Which whilst can be done, it does come with the downside that once you’ve reported your car as stolen, when the would be thief or buyer takes the papers to the shopfront to transfer the rego, they have the location of the car and quite possible the person who stole it sitting in front of them.

c_c™ said :

You’re technically required to have the rego papers (the certificate which they will continue to send you under the new system and have always received) in the vehicle for checking if required anyway. The sticker is just a convenience for police and inspectors.

Is this true? I was always taught that you should never leave the rego certificate in the car as it gives a potential thief the paper work needed to sell your car…?

… they will make plenty of coin from punters who “forget”

Postalgeek said :

Anyone know if point to point cameras will be checking rego?

It’s been indicated that they have the capacity, would seem mad if they don’t use it.

Judging by the size of the server racks they’re installing to run the cameras, they’re planning on having more gear in the future. Heaps of space.

shirty_bear said :

““Removing registration labels brings the ACT in line with some other states across Australia”

… what about driving in other states where labels ARE required? One would like to think this has been sorted, but I’m loathe to make assumptions of common sense where gummint is concerned.

You’re technically required to have the rego papers (the certificate which they will continue to send you under the new system and have always received) in the vehicle for checking if required anyway. The sticker is just a convenience for police and inspectors.

shirty_bear said :

““Removing registration labels brings the ACT in line with some other states across Australia”

… what about driving in other states where labels ARE required? One would like to think this has been sorted, but I’m loathe to make assumptions of common sense where gummint is concerned.

Good point. Will I be booked should I drive to VIC without a rego label?

Osprey06 said :

bd84 said :

NSW has been quite smart and developed an app where you can check the status of your rego, set reminders and pay your rego renewal. Given the ACT’s rego system is ancient and probably dates back to the 1920s or somewhere thereabouts, I doubt we will see that here anytime soon..

There are enough pointless smartphone apps already. I get a bill, I schedule a payment – job done. Short of receiving an electronic bill (which doesn’t require an app), I don’t see that the system needs to be any more complex than that…

You now won’t have a label to remind yourself that the rego is coming up (even in advance of the 4 weeks or so notice you get with the letter. Also considering there have been some instances where the letters are sent late or get lost.

Having said that, just because there may be an app, doesn’t mean you would need to download it if you didn’t find it useful. I’m assuming you aren’t downloading the contents of the App Store onto your phone just because the apps exist…

bd84 said :

NSW has been quite smart and developed an app where you can check the status of your rego, set reminders and pay your rego renewal. Given the ACT’s rego system is ancient and probably dates back to the 1920s or somewhere thereabouts, I doubt we will see that here anytime soon..

There are enough pointless smartphone apps already. I get a bill, I schedule a payment – job done. Short of receiving an electronic bill (which doesn’t require an app), I don’t see that the system needs to be any more complex than that…

NSW Rego Check

ACT Rego Check

I knew that NSW had a rego check website. When I looked a while back you still needed part of the VIN to check rego details in the ACT, but it appears now that the new system allows the checking simply by plate number.

https://rego.act.gov.au/regosoa/mobile/welcome.jsf

You can’t set for reminders, but you can see if your car or someone else’s is registered!

““Removing registration labels brings the ACT in line with some other states across Australia”

… what about driving in other states where labels ARE required? One would like to think this has been sorted, but I’m loathe to make assumptions of common sense where gummint is concerned.

About time, the technology has been around for ages.

Anyone know if point to point cameras will be checking rego?

NSW has been quite smart and developed an app where you can check the status of your rego, set reminders and pay your rego renewal. Given the ACT’s rego system is ancient and probably dates back to the 1920s or somewhere thereabouts, I doubt we will see that here anytime soon..

Protective parents on the other hand won’t have a quick reference to see the cars their kids are getting in are legit.

That is certainly a point I had not considered.

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