Free retesting for Kiwis to get their driver licence may be on the way out.
Replacing re-sit fees for an upfront inclusive fee was introduced by the last Government in October and aimed to save Kiwis $5.5 million a year.
But delays have ballooned since then with people waiting 60 days for their test.
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is in talks to address the issue with the reintroduction of fees on the cards.
New Zealand Institute of Driver Educators president Mark Revill-Johnson told AM the previous Government trying to make tests accessible was well-intentioned, but he said the industry did warn delays could happen.
"It's not exactly clear to us exactly how much it's costing to fund the free re-sits, what we do know is that lots of people were turning up and they were unprepared and there are a high number of people who are not turning up simply because they have no investment in the process," he said.
Revill-Johnson instead suggested flipping it - having a free first test, then charge for re-sits.
"My advice to Government would be to pay for training and then people will turn up and pass the test," he said.
"Training is not about passing a test necessarily, training is about being a good, safe driver perhaps after the test - so most instructors would not work necessarily to teach you to pass, they'll teach you to drive safely, if you drive safely then passing the test is easy."
Currently, to manage volumes, some testing sites have extended hours and hired more driving testing officers to meet demand.
"But we're still seeing 50, 60-day waits, whereas prior to October you'd probably looking at two weeks," Revill-Johnson said.
