Applications to provide services like those provided by Transport Service Delivery Agents are on hold, pending a review of the market.
The market for some of the services provided by TSDAs, chiefly entry certification and Certificate of Fitness inspections, has been restricted to three agents: Vehicle Inspection New Zealand, the Automobile Association and Vehicle Testing New Zealand. Safer Seatbelts also gained the opportunity to provide entry certification following a court battle, but has yet to excercise it.
While the CoF market was set to be opened up under the Vehicle Licensing Reform, eyebrows were raised last month when DIESELtalk reported Auckland based Drivesure had received permission to offer CoF A – for rental car and taxis – and was planning to seek permission to offer entry certification.
DIESELtalk asked the NZ Transport Agency if the market for such services was being opened up, and manager for service supply management Chris Taylor says this is not the case.
“There has not been a decision made to ‘open up the market’ for services provided by the TSDAs,” Taylor says.
“Since the TSDA appointments, two providers (Drivesure and Safer Vehicle Testing) have been approved to provide some specific services following an application.
“At this stage, all further applications are on hold, pending the outcome of upcoming reviews into future business models,” Taylor notes. We’ll involve our stakeholders in those reviews.”
VTNZ chief executive Mike Walsh is aware of the freeze and the reviews, noting that they are part of the ongoing Vehicle Licensing Reform.
“They have come out with their policy statements, and they have a lot of work to do.”
VINZ general manager Frank Willett says he is of the firm belief with the TSDA mode, that “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
“The relationship between the current TSDAs and the NZTA is multilevel, it is complex, and it delivers on behalf of the NZTA a vast array of services, advice and assistance to the market that would not continue should there be any drastic change to the model.”
“We have been aware as a TSDA for some time that it is not a closed shop, than any organisation wanting to pursue a TSDA status could,” he says.
“What I am more concerned about is the lack of recognition of value by the regulator of the current three TSDAs.”
Willet says the current TSDA business model is viable, “But that is against the back drop that an oversupply of service would put that at risk.”
Drivesure general manager and owner Greg Ranson says he was aware of the hold, and had been given no indication of how long it would be before his plans could continue.
Ranson sees the need for an opening up of the market.
“It is not the NZTAs job to protect incumbent operators,” he says. “I would have thought the NZTAs position should be to let the market work out what it needs on its own.”
Willett sees the issue as being more complex.
“I do not think it is the regulator’s job to practice protectionism,” he notes. “But at the same time the regulator has to be mindful that if it has a whole pile of other service providers it opens up other issues.”
