Rental vehicle businesses

Owners and managers of vehicle hire rental services must have a transport service licence and ensure vehicles in their rental fleets must meet strict safety standards.

Section 9 of the Land Transport (Operator Licensing) Rule 2017 specifies the minimum legal standards and requirements you must meet in operating a vehicle rental business. Most importantly, it requires you to:

• keep a register of your vehicles and the people who hire them
• sign a written agreement with each vehicle hirer and provide them with a copy
• explain the hire agreement if the hirer asks you to
• ensure the hirer and/or anyone who intends driving the vehicle has a valid driver licence for the vehicle
• offer the driver insurance for the vehicle for the term of their hire.

In addition, the vehicles you hire must meet higher safety standards before you can provide them to customers. These include registration and annual licensing requirements and routine certificate of fitness (CoF) inspections. Your vehicles must continue to meet these safety standards while operated in the rental service.

When buying vehicles for your business, you should also be aware of the safety features common in many modern vehicles and any features that could affect the environment.