The Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) is recommending changes to the way the NSW tow truck industry is regulated to reduce costs while maintaining consumer protections.
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Releasing a draft report for public comment, IPART Chairman Dr Peter Boxall said a range of improvements should be made to the current licencing scheme that will reduce the compliance burden on the tow truck industry while protecting consumers.
"We are recommending storage arrangements that are less prescriptive and more flexible and fees that benefit both customers and operators.
"In addition, we are recommending an after-hours surcharge of 25 per cent that applies to all tows outside the hours of 7am to 7pm on business days (instead of a 20 per cent surcharge outside the hours of 8am to 5pm on business days," Dr Boxall said.
Maximum fees for short accident tows and longer tows in metropolitan areas would be about the same or lower.
Fees for vehicles requiring storage for three or more days would be higher as would be longer tows in country areas. For the vast majority of NSW motorists, accident towing fees are included in their vehicle insurance premiums.
