In Brief
NZTA has confirmed that the restrictions shown on a customer’s overseas driver licence continue to apply while they are driving in New Zealand. Operators cannot rely solely on the fact that a New Zealand Class 1 licence permits vehicles with up to 12 seats. A standard German, or other European Category B, licence covers vehicles with no more than 8 passenger seats in addition to the driver, that is 9 seats in total, and does not on its own extend to a 10-seat or 12-seat rental van.
The Question We Asked NZTA
A member query, raised through Touchdown Car Rental, asked how operators should treat overseas customers whose driver licence appears to carry a passenger capacity or vehicle category restriction narrower than a New Zealand Class 1 licence. The examples included an overseas visitor from India whose licence stated a limit of nine occupants, a similar concern raised by visitors holding Vietnamese licences, and a common operational scenario where a customer requests a smaller people mover but only a 12-seat Toyota HiAce is available.
On 31 August 2026, RVA wrote to NZTA with a formal request for regulatory interpretation, asking directly: do the restrictions shown on an overseas licence continue to apply while that person is driving in New Zealand, and can an operator rely on New Zealand licence class equivalency alone when deciding whether a customer is entitled to drive a particular rental vehicle?