Rotorua Chamber of Commerce chief executive Darrin Walsh said there was a bit of an issue in the area relating to workers, particularly from small businesses.
Not all businesses paid employees for their time on juries and the "pittance" the service offered might not cover the cost of attendance. Jurors are paid a minimum of $31 per half-day.
"There are people out there who can't afford to go to jury service but I guess they don't accept that as an excuse," Mr Walsh said. He thought the ministry needed to be more lenient with those who could not attend, though he had not heard of anyone getting into trouble for missing jury duty to work.
According to the ministry, people may be allowed to be deferred or excused from service if they need to work.
Ministry of Justice figures showed 136,818 people were summoned for jury service nationwide during the July 2013 to June 2014 financial year - with just under 30,000 attending.
District Courts general manager Tony Fisher said the number of people who did not attend jury service was not recorded, though about 12 per cent did not respond to being summoned.
Reasons included people simply ignoring the directive, or not getting them because of a recent change of address.
Other people did not attend because they were ineligible - as in the case of MPs, police and the Governor-General.
Under section 32 of the Juries Act 1981, a person failing to turn up for jury service can be fined up to $1000.
