Victorian Ombudsman Deborah Glass has criticised the implementation of the state’s road-user tax for electric vehicles. 

The tax, introduced in 2021, has been deemed “unfairly” administered, affecting thousands of EV owners.

In July 2021, the new, per-kilometre road-user charge for Zero and Low Emission Vehicles (ZLEVs) was introduced in Victoria. This legislation was the first of its kind in Australia, and its validity is currently being challenged in the High Court.

The Victorian Government’s rationale for introducing the charge was that ZLEV owners pay little or nothing towards the maintenance of Victorian roads. Owners of traditional fuel-powered vehicles pay for public road upkeep through the Commonwealth fuel excise.

But the Ombudsman’s investigation, prompted by numerous complaints, highlighted several issues, including that EV and PHEV owners were often charged for more kilometres than they had driven due to inflexible average calculations.

Glass says that plug-in hybrid vehicle owners were also charged both the electric vehicle tax and fuel excise, even when using fuel in areas with no charging infrastructure.

Additionally, the review found the Department of Transport and Planning displayed an unwillingness to exercise discretion when handling complaints.

Glass stressed that despite a pending High Court challenge, the administration of the tax needed immediate rectification.

The Ombudsman made four recommendations, including a review of each complaint related to the electric vehicle charge and the development of processes for disputing charges and requesting waivers.
“As the Robodebt inquiry showed us, there are dangers in making assumptions and using average calculations to charge people,” she said.

“Assumptions have been made about how people will use their electric vehicles, which plainly disadvantage people with older vehicles or those who have less access to charging stations.

“While this report focuses on the actions of the Department of Transport and Planning, there are broader lessons for the public sector about the dangers of making policy on the run (or not making it at all), and the importance of exercising discretion.”

The state’s Department of Transport and Planning has reportedly accepted the recommendations, but disputed some aspects of the report.