Charges laid against Wellington bus company

The company, which operates Go Wellington buses, did not enter a plea. Photo / Clifano Subagio

A Wellington bus company has been charged with failing to pass details to authorities about one of its drivers accused of wrongdoing.

But the company puts the error down to a simple administrative mistake.

Wellington City Transport, a wholly-owned subsidiary of NZ Bus, appeared in the Wellington District Court today facing a charge of failing to give information to authorities.

The company, which operates Go Wellington buses, did not enter a plea and will be back in court in September.

The charge, laid under the Land Transport Act, carries a maximum penalty of a $20,000 fine.

Court documents say that on May 22 the company, when informed of an offence allegedly committed by one of its drivers, failed to give all the information in its possession or that it could have obtained that might have led to the identification and apprehension of the driver.

The driver's alleged wrongdoing happened on Murchison St in the Wellington suburb of Island Bay.

NZ Bus' chief operating officer for the southern region Tonia Haskell said the company was yet to decide how to plead.

"It was a complete administrative error on our part. The police emailed us for details and that email was missed," Ms Haskell said.

"We are currently engaging in a conversation about how we can be more responsive."

Ms Haskell didn't have any information about the alleged Murchison St incident but said police had stopped their investigation and no action had been taken against any drivers.