The oldest Otago overdue parking fine has recently celebrated its 39th birthday.
In data released to the Otago Daily Times under the Official Information Act by the Ministry of Justice, the total value of overdue fines in Otago as of November 30, 2024, was $8.3million.
This is down from the January 1, 2024, amount of $10.1m.
The ministry also revealed Otago's oldest overdue court fine recently ticked over to 39 years outstanding, while Southland's oldest fine was 38 years.
The ministry calculated the data based on the region the action that caused the fine occurred, not where the recipient lived.
In the Otago region, exceeding the speed limit in a 50kmh zone generated the highest number of overdue fines.
However, in Southland, parking in a prohibited area generated the most.
Otago had 41,426 overdue fines and Southland 47,259.
Ministry of Justice national service delivery manager Tracey Baguley said the ministry was committed to ensuring fines and reparation remained credible sanctions.
"The ministry's focus is the collection of any outstanding fines and does not specifically target old or new fines; fines do not go away or expire due to age.
"Regardless of how old a fine is or when it was imposed, if it remains unpaid, the court can, and will, contact the individual where possible to get payment," Ms Baguley said.
While the court made efforts to contact individuals with outstanding fines in a timely manner, this was not always possible, particularly in cases where it did not have up-to-date contact details, she said.
If infringement fees were not paid to the issuing authority, such as the police, before the final due date, the issuing authority might choose to file the infringement with the court, where it then became a court fine.
A ministry spokeswoman said if payment was not made within 28 days, or the payment arrangement failed, enforcement actions could be taken.
