IT glitch stings Kiwis with over 20,000 wrong traffic tickets

New Zealand Police have been forced to apologise after admitting they wrongly issued over 20,000 traffic tickets to Kiwis, due to a IT error.

Citing a “temporary computer problem” as the reason, police have revealed that information on the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) website during October 22 to December 16 was not automatically updated.

As a consequence, over 20,000 traffic infringement notices were handed out to unsuspecting Kiwis, including fines for some vehicles they no longer owned.

According to National road policing manager, superintendent Carey Griffith, any New Zealander who sold their vehicles during the timeframe could be affected by the error, as well as folk who changed address or surname.

"Police sincerely apologise to all of those who have been affected by this one-off technical issue, which has now been resolved," Griffiths said.

"I can also reassure anyone who has been incorrectly ticketed as a result of our mistake that they won't need to pay the fine, and anyone who has paid in error will be completely refunded.

"Once the problem was brought to our attention, police took action to investigate and ensure it was fixed.

“We have also put a number of steps in place to ensure it does not happen again."

Griffiths admitted that the total amount of incorrect fines could range from $30 to $630, coming during a busy festive period for Kiwis.

"Police once again apologise to all those people affected by this problem, including previous vehicle owners as well as motor traders and dealers, who have understandably been fielding calls and complaints from concerned customers,” Griffiths added.

"If anyone has questions or concerns over an infringement they believe may have been issued incorrectly, we ask them to make contact the PIB straight away with their notice details so we can put it right.”

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