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New Zealand cancelled 459 heavy-automotive licences of Indian-beginning build drivers over fraudulent paperwork, sparking protests, financial concern, and debate on reliance on migrant labour
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459 Indian-beginning build truck drivers’ licenses canceled in New Zealand.
Licenses canceled because of the fraudulent or altered paperwork.
Affected drivers and families yell for relief and reinstatement.
The transfer came after the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) uncovered serious irregularities within the conversion of foreign places heavy-automotive licences. (Representational Image: AP)
In a building that has despatched shockwaves thru migrant communities, transport regulators in a miles-flung island nation have cancelled the heavy-automotive licences of 459 truck drivers of Indian beginning build, triggering financial concern, avenue-stage protests and a recent debate over the nation’s dependence on international labour.
The transfer came after the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) uncovered serious irregularities within the conversion of foreign places heavy-automotive licences. An inner audit, officials talked about, printed that a mountainous sequence of capabilities were backed by fraudulent or altered paperwork, a finding that caused rapid cancellations. The first wave saw 440 licences scrapped; the tally has since climbed to 459.
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In step with a regulatory legend, all affected drivers are of Indian beginning build, with 436 conditions linked to UAE-issued paperwork, 18 tied to Australia, and 5 to Canada. Crucially, none of the cancellations have Indian-issued licences straight away, as New Zealand does no longer grant exemptions to Indian licence-holders, requiring them as an different to undergo fat finding out.
For dozens of families, on the different hand, the honour affords shrimp comfort.
For years, thousands of Indian drivers arriving within the island nation reportedly relied on online “increase letters”, purchased for the equivalent of Rs 27,000 to Rs 54,000. These documents, long accepted by immigration and transport authorities, helped fast-track licence approvals and, by extension, work visas.
The arrangement functioned smoothly until regulators reclassified the letters as entirely illegal, prompting a sweeping review. Licences and visas obtained through such documents are now under the scanner, and many have already been invalidated. The once-popular shortcut, authorities say, has been “closed permanently”.
Loads of the affected drivers are young migrants of their early 30s who had already cleared each purposeful and idea assessments. For loads of, trucking used to be no longer factual a job, however a system to stabilise their families’ futures.
On November 22, the simmering alarm spilled into public survey as rankings of Indian drivers and their families gathered at the Takanini Gurdwara in Auckland, tense relief and a route to reinstatement.
“We invent no longer have any profits left, how invent we feed our childhood?” said Amritpal Singh, one of the affected drivers. Another driver, Parminder Singh, broke down as he admitted he could no longer afford his house rent.
Transport operators echoed the anguish. Industry members Navjot Sidhu and Ranjit Singh said UAE-issued documents were accepted for years without questions, making recruitment smoother. “The rules have changed overnight, but the drivers are paying the price,” one operator remarked.
The crackdown comes at a time when the nation is grappling with a prolonged-standing shortage of truck drivers. In 2022, the deficit stood at 3,449 drivers, a hole that migrant workers, especially Indians, have progressively filled.
A 2025 workforce legend printed that Asian drivers, predominantly Indians, now myth for unprejudiced about 20% of the national trucking trade, underlining the field’s dependence on international labour.
Amid the backlash, MP Parmjeet Parmar has written to Transport Minister Simeon Brown, urging the government to hang in thoughts the pickle of “onerous-working migrants who stepped in when the trade obligatory them the most”.
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First Published:
December 01, 2025, 17:30 IST
News world 459 Indian-Origin Truck Drivers Lose Licences Amid Document Fraud Case In New Zealand
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