\u201cThe Indian community has been disproportionately and severely affected, as many drivers of Indian origin form the backbone of New Zealand\u2019s transport, logistics and courier workforce,\u201d Sidhu said.<\/p>\n
\u201cLong-serving, law-abiding drivers have suddenly found their livelihoods at risk.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sidhu said the drivers\u2019 families had been unfairly caught up in the crackdown.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not only 440 individuals,\u201d he said. \u201cThese are 440 families, including thousands of people with small children involved. Very soon, everyone will be on the streets.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn addition \u2013 something the authorities probably haven\u2019t realised yet \u2013 this means 440 less trucks taking essential supplies all around the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis impending commercial drivers\u2019 crisis would mean a lot of trucks would be sitting in garages, instead of running on roads, leading to potential supply shortages closer to Christmas season.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ranjit Singh is a transport operator based in Tauranga.<\/p>\n
Singh employs four truck drivers, two of whom migrated from the UAE and faced losing their licences.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne already got the letter, and another may get it anytime,\u201d Ranjit said.<\/p>\n
A commercial truck driver attends a rally in the Auckland suburb of Takinini with his family. Photo \/ RNZ<\/p>\n
\u201cThe impact of this decision by NZTA will be huge for the transport industry, for the drivers\u2019 families and for the wider economy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese drivers can\u2019t be replaced overnight. Firstly, getting commercial drivers is not easy in New Zealand. I advertised on Trade Me for one year but couldn\u2019t find a single driver locally. That\u2019s why we recruited from overseas.<\/p>\n
\u201cSecondly, training a new driver takes at least three months. This crisis suddenly came upon us out of nowhere and that, too, at the busiest time of the year. I don\u2019t think anyone has thought through the huge impact it will cause to the wider economy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Act Party MP Parmjeet Parmar met representatives of the affected drivers last weekend.<\/p>\n
Parmar also voiced concern about the crackdown\u2019s impact on the wider economy.<\/p>\n
\u201cHundreds of experienced [heavy vehicle] Class 5 drivers being stood down just weeks before Christmas will place enormous strain on freight and supply chains,\u201d Parmar said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBusinesses are depending on this period to recover financially, and they cannot operate without qualified drivers.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Indian-origin lawmaker also weighed in on what she understood might have led to the revocation of the commercial licences in the first place.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter meeting with representatives of the affected drivers, it\u2019s clear many of them acted under pressure and believed they were following the correct process,\u201d Parmar said.<\/p>\n
Transport operator Ranjit Singh has struggled to find local hires. Photo \/ RNZ<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile any misuse of documents is unacceptable, these drivers have all passed New Zealand\u2019s own theory and practical tests, and they have demonstrated their competence on our roads,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have written to the Minister of Transport to advocate for a solution that upholds the integrity of the licensing system while ensuring that well-qualified and competent drivers are able to keep doing their jobs.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy hope is that we can protect the system without causing unnecessary disruption to workers, employers and the freight sector at this critical time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sidhu said an audit by NZTA in July uncovered 440 commercial licences that had been acquired through conversion appeared to be based on documents the agency now deemed invalid or non-verifiable.<\/p>\n
Most affected licences were in heavy vehicle commercial categories, he said.<\/p>\n
Navjot Sidhu is a transport operator who is advocating for affected drivers. Photo \/ RNZ<\/p>\n
Sidhu said the document in question was a Dubai-issued supporting letter, commonly provided by companies in which drivers had worked, that had been accepted by NZTA for almost two decades as part of the licence-conversion process.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to stress this is not a new document that was demanded after 2022,\u201d Sidhu said.<\/p>\n
\u201cDrivers coming from the UAE have routinely submitted it over the years. As such, the new lot [of drivers] that came after reopening of the borders submitted the same [document], trusting NZTA\u2019s past approval processes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe issue appears to stem from a recent shift in the interpretation or verification standard of these documents, not from intentional wrongdoing by applicants,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor 20 years, no indication was given that the document might be unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n
Onkar, who goes by his first name and runs PB07 Transport employing eight drivers, four of whom came from the UAE, said authorities in the Middle East nation did not issue the type of verification letter NZTA required to approve a licence conversion.<\/p>\n
Under current regulations, NZTA requires supporting documents to state the tonnage of vehicle a driver is qualified to drive.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor years, NZTA routinely accepted a widely used Dubai supporting letter issued by employers as part of the official conversion process,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany applicants submitted this document in good faith, relying on NZTA\u2019s long-term acceptance and established practice.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow that NZTA is not accepting this supporting letter, a mismatch has happened between UAE\u2019s system and New Zealand\u2019s evolving standards.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sidhu said the drivers were not deliberately engaged in fraudulent activity.<\/p>\n
Some drivers had also been scammed by a Dubai-based supporting letter provider, which he said had added to the confusion.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe overseas provider openly advertised that they could supply the required supporting letter for a fee, suggesting this was the standard practice,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cLured by the impression created that this was the official letter recognised by New Zealand authorities, many drivers paid him the money and got the letter. This letter is now deemed [to be] fraudulent by NZTA.\u201d<\/p>\n
Onkar employs eight drivers, four of whom came from the UAE. Photo \/ RNZ, Blessen Tom<\/p>\n
Ranjit said many drivers had operated heavy vehicles exceeding 40 tonnes for many years in the UAE.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have submitted documents from their employers and their driving schools in the UAE verifying this experience,\u201d Ranjit said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter they moved here, they cleared all the requisite theory and driving tests,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMoreover, they have been driving on our roads for one or two years now without any issues.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe only issue is the supporting letter and [the fact that it mentions] tonnage, which has provoked the mass revocation of 440 commercial driving licences.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hundreds of drivers attended a rally with their families at South Auckland\u2019s Takanini Gurdwara last weekend.<\/p>\n
Amritpal Singh, who drove trucks in the UAE for 15 years before relocating to New Zealand two years ago, said the revocation of his licence had hurt his family hard.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have taken away our family\u2019s only source of income,\u201d he said. \u201cHow will I feed my kids now?\u201d<\/p>\n
Parminder Singh said he did not have sufficient income to pay rent after now finding himself unable to drive any vehicle in New Zealand.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to rely on the generosity of friends even to come here to attend this meeting,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Kiranpreet Singh said the drivers had simply followed long-accepted practice by NZTA when converting their heavy vehicle licences.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow, our wives and children are being penalised for no fault of theirs,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Sarfaraz Khan, a commercial law specialist who is advocating for the drivers, called for a case-by-case remediation pathway.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are meeting representatives of the NZTA soon to put forward the drivers\u2019 case,\u201d Khan said.<\/p>\n
Jitendra Singh, who runs Haryana Driving Academy in the South Auckland suburb of Wiri, claimed the letters the drivers had been receiving from NZTA were also causing confusion.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome drivers have been told their Class 5 licence is cancelled and they can\u2019t drive any vehicle in New Zealand,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are being told to apply for overseas licence conversion from scratch,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is problematic as, in many cases, the UAE driving licence they once held has expired. So how can these drivers apply for conversion?<\/p>\n
\u201cIn some cases, NZTA has cancelled the Class 5 licence of the driver but granted him a Class 2 licence. Now that driver must go through the entire process of getting a Class 3 or 4 licence first, before applying for a Class 5 licence.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to understand from NZTA how it is determining which clause applies to which driver.\u201d<\/p>\n
NZTA responds<\/p>\n
RNZ approached NZTA for comment on the drivers\u2019 claims that they had genuinely followed an NZTA-approved process that had been unchanged for decades.<\/p>\n
RNZ also asked NZTA for comment on the drivers\u2019 claims that the issue stemmed from system gaps in the application of policy in licence conversions.<\/p>\n
\u201c[The agency] is taking action on these licences following the discovery that false or altered documentation was provided during the process of converting these overseas licences to New Zealand heavy vehicle licences,\u201d an NZTA spokesperson said in a statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cIrregularities in the documents provided during the conversion process were discovered during an audit undertaken by NZTA in July 2025. This action follows a thorough investigation of issues identified during the audit,\u201d the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n
Questioned whether he was worried about potential driver shortages before Christmas, Transport Minister Chris Bishop referred RNZ to NZTA, citing it as an operational matter for the agency.<\/p>\n
-RNZ<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cThe Indian community has been disproportionately and severely affected, as many drivers of Indian origin form the backbone…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":146109,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[3088,19552,5504,13060,19339,47148,111,43,139,69,1523,98097,75224,48782,1455],"class_list":["post-146108","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-commercial","tag-driver","tag-following","tag-gaurav","tag-licence","tag-looming","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-over","tag-revocations","tag-sharma","tag-shortages","tag-warning"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146108","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=146108"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146108\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/146109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=146108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=146108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=146108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}