RUC Pass Celebrates Launch Giveaway Winner in Taranaki

RUC Pass has celebrated the winner of its inaugural launch giveaway, with Taranaki motorist Christopher receiving 5,000 kilometres of Road User Charges (RUC) as part of the company's August 2026 launch promotion.

The giveaway marked the launch of RUC Pass, a new digital platform developed by New Zealand transport technology company RUC on Rails, designed to make purchasing and managing Road User Charges easier for everyday motorists.

The promotion ran from 16 July to 16 August 2026, giving customers the opportunity to enter simply by registering an account and adding a vehicle to RUC Pass. Additional entries were awarded to customers who purchased RUC through the platform during the promotional period.

Following the conclusion of the promotion, Christopher was randomly selected as the winner and awarded 5,000 kilometres of RUC for his vehicle.

The RUC Pass team subsequently met with Christopher in Taranaki to celebrate the win and present him with a commemorative oversized cheque.

"Yeah, I was pretty surprised when I found out I'd won! You don't really expect to win these things, so it was a pretty cool surprise," says Christopher.

"Five thousand kilometres of RUC is a massive help. Really appreciate the RUC Pass team coming out and sorting it all. Cheers, guys!"

The giveaway formed part of the company's wider launch activities, which also included waiving platform service fees for customers purchasing RUC during the promotional period.

RUC on Rails founder and CEO Adam Johnston says the promotion was an opportunity to thank the first customers who supported the new platform.

"Launching a new product is always an exciting milestone, but what really matters is getting it into the hands of customers and seeing people start to use it."

"We wanted to do something to celebrate the launch and give a little something back to the people who got behind us early on."

"It's great to see the prize go to Christopher, and we hope those 5,000 kilometres make life a little easier!"

RUC Pass allows New Zealand motorists to register their vehicles, purchase Road User Charges and manage their RUC requirements through a mobile application.

The platform is currently available to drivers of RUC-liable vehicles, including diesel vehicles, electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids.

RUC on Rails co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Briyarne Pascoe says seeing customers begin using the platform has been a rewarding milestone for the development team.

"We've spent a lot of time building RUC Pass and thinking about how to make something that's traditionally been a bit of a hassle into a much simpler experience."

"Seeing real people download the app, add their vehicles and start purchasing RUC has been pretty exciting. It's one thing to build a product, but another thing entirely to see people actually using it."

With New Zealand preparing for a broader transition to Road User Charges across the light-vehicle fleet, RUC on Rails is continuing to develop its consumer-focused platform and expand the ways motorists can access RUC services.

Johnston says the company's focus remains on making the process as straightforward as possible.

"RUC is something a lot more New Zealanders are going to become familiar with over the coming years."

"Our aim with RUC Pass is pretty simple. We want to take as much of the hassle out of buying and managing RUC as we can."

RUC on Rails thanks everyone who participated in the launch promotion and congratulates Christopher on his win.

RUC Pass is available on iOS (Apple App Store), Android (Google Play) and the web.