Huge change to way we pay rego


QUEENSLAND motorists will soon be able to pay their registration bills monthly under a push from the State Government to make it easier for drivers to manage their payments.

The Courier-Mail can reveal the Government is set to launch the new payment system before the end of the year after a survey of motorists found one in five wanted to pay their rego and third-party insurance bills monthly.

The new one-month rego service will include an extra $1.45 surcharge for every payment made, making it similar to the cost of paying every three or six months.

Queensland will be one of the first states in the country to make the move, following South Australia and the Northern Territory.

Transport Minister Mark Bailey said they were introducing the new payment system to make it easier for motorists, bringing it in line with other services such as phone and internet.

"Across the board, we're seeing more flexibility when it comes to paying for services and utilities, to help Queenslanders better manage household budgets," he said.

Opposition Leader Deb Frecklington said the LNP welcomed any measure that would help Queenslanders cope with the "shocking rise in rego we've seen under Annastacia Palaszczuk".

"But if Labor really cared about struggling families, it wouldn't have introduced the highest rego fees in the country," she said.

"Labor should stop breaking its election promise and not increase car rego above inflation."

The new rego scheme was introduced through new regulations signed off last week, which also included a crackdown on offensive personalised number plates.

Under the new regulations, Transport and Main Roads will recall offensive or defamatory number plates.

Personalised Plates Queensland will also refuse to issue any number plates that are obscene, indecent, contrary to the public interest, likely to cause offence or infringe on another person's rights.

"We're not stopping people from having fun with their personalised plates, but what we don't want is people promoting violent or unsafe behaviour," Mr Bailey said.

"PPQ already reviews combinations and has policies in place to reject or recall any offensive plates, and these rules put that into legislation."

Guadalupe Garcia-Vaquer and son Enric Ortiz-Garcia. Picture: AAP Image/Attila Csaszar

Mum Guadalupe Garcia-Vaquer, 38, said she liked the flexibility of monthly but would still opt to pay annually.

"In the end, you have to pay," Ms Garcia-Vaquer said. "If I pay it at once, I know I don't have to pay later."

She said the prospect of unexpected expenses, especially raising her 10 1/2 month-old son Enric Ortiz-Garcia, was the biggest risk in her mind about paying monthly.

"If I did it monthly, I'd have to worry about rent, food and emergencies," she said.