Terms of use

These terms and conditions set out what is required when you use our online services. They help to ensure the information you provide to us is kept secure, and that the information that we are required to make available to the public is accurate and as up to date as possible.

You are being asked to agree to these terms and conditions for the use of our services, so please read them carefully and ensure you understand them. If you choose to accept them and continue on to create an account, these terms and conditions will form an agreement between you and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (the Ministry).

Access to our services

Access to our services is governed by your RealMe® logon which provides us with security over access to our sites and identifies who you are.

You are responsible for keeping your RealMe user name and password confidential. Any actions on our sites from your RealMe user name and password will be considered by us to have been made by you.

RealMe lets you access our registers and connects you to your user account with the Ministry.

Your user account then provides us with associated information, including:

  • details about you - for example, your email address;
  • services you have opted to use;
  • organisations you are linked to (if any);
  • details you are authorised to edit on the sites - for example, companies for which you are able to file documents;
  • whether you are an administrator for an organisation; and
  • whether you have been delegated the authority to act on behalf of any other user(s).

If you are an administrator for an organisation, you are able to set up other accounts for other users attached to that organisation, to use our services. Any users you create will need to obtain their own RealMe logon before they can activate their user account with us.

Learn more about RealMe(external link)

Our commitment to you

If you agree to our terms of use, we will use all reasonable care and skill to:

  • provide online services that are easy to use, with online help and tutorial facilities;
  • make these services available to you as close to 24 by 7 as we can (with one regular, scheduled outage per week on a Wednesday night);
  • provide you with voice and email support from our Business Service Centre during normal business hours (except for public holidays);
    Visit our Contact us page for full contact details.
  • keep secure from unauthorised access all non-public information stored on our services;
  • only allow authorised users access to amend information you have provided to us; and
  • ensure that information we provide about our services is kept up to date.

The Ministry does not accept any responsibility or liability for any loss, including any costs and expenses, you incur in connection with your use of these services.

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s (MBIE) transparency statement describes the kind of information MBIE gathers to ensure it can effectively:

  • protect people, information, and places
  • ensure regulatory compliance, and
  • detect and prevent criminal offending.

MBIE’s transparency statement | Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment(external link)

Your commitments to us

The purpose of your commitments to us (set out below) is to protect the integrity and security of our services, as well as the integrity and security of the information provided by you and other people who use our services. If you do not honour your commitments, third parties may be able to take actions apparently on your behalf that may cause loss to you or other people, and for which those other people may try to hold you responsible.

You agree that you will:

  • abide by the terms of use governing your use of the RealMe® logon service by which you access our services;
  • not knowingly or recklessly use, or attempt to use, any of our services for a purpose for which it was not intended, including any unlawful purpose; and
  • notify us immediately if you know, or have reason to believe, that there has been, or is about to be, fraudulent or other unlawful use of any of our services.
    Visit our Contact us page for full contact details.

If you are an administrator of an organisation account, then you also agree to:

  • manage access to our services by other users who are connected to your organisation, by keeping user information updated and closing user accounts where they no longer need access to our services via your organisation; and
  • manage delegated authorities, which provide your organisation with the ability to make use of our services on behalf of other users.

If you grant delegated authority to allow another user to access our services on your behalf, you agree to:

  • acknowledge that you are granting that user the right to make use of our services on your behalf, including but not limited to, the amendment of data in relation to the entity that has had delegated authority applied to it; and
  • accept that any action performed by users to whom you have granted delegated authority is, in effect, being done on your behalf and that you are responsible for any actions they perform on your behalf.

If you accept delegated authority to make use of our services on behalf of another user, you agree to:

  • acknowledge that you are accepting the right to make use of our services on their behalf, including but not limited to, the amendment of data for an entity over which you have delegated authority; and
  • acknowledge that any action performed by you in relation to any delegated authority you have been granted, is made in the knowledge that you are acting on behalf of the user who has granted you that authority.

Fees and charges

There are no charges for the NZBN Register at this time.

Email address

We will not disclose your email address to third parties. The email address you supply, however, may be used to update you with information regarding our services.

Suspension of account

For the protection of users, other people or the Ministry itself, we may suspend or disable your account without notice to you if we consider that:

  • disabling your account is necessary to maintain the integrity or security of our services or any organisation or person; or
  • the account is being misused or has otherwise been compromised; or
  • you breach these terms of use.

Where appropriate, we will notify you of any suspension or disabling of your account as soon as practicable after doing so.

Unlawful access or use

If you knowingly access or use, or attempt to access or use (or allow an unauthorised person to access or use), any of our services for an unlawful purpose (including but not limited to fraud or attempted fraud or hacking or attempted hacking), you will be liable to pay any party (or the Ministry on its behalf) the amount of the loss suffered by them caused directly or indirectly by your unlawful actions. For the avoidance of doubt, this clause is not intended to confer benefits enforceable by third parties under the Contracts (Privity) Act 1982.

Privacy

The privacy statement for our services applies to your personal information collected by the Ministry. By registering for an account and agreeing to these terms of use, you will be regarded as having read and agreed to the terms of that privacy statement. Therefore, please ensure you have read and are comfortable with the statement before agreeing to these terms of use.

Read our privacy statement

Disputes

If you have a dispute with the Ministry in connection with these terms of use or any of our services you must first call our Business Service Centre on 0508 377 746. Both you and our Business Service Centre will use all reasonable efforts in good faith to resolve the dispute. If you and our Business Service Centre are unable to resolve the dispute to your satisfaction, you may ask the Business Service Centre to escalate the dispute to the appropriate Ministry representative.

The Ministry will then promptly contact you and will endeavour to resolve the dispute with you. If, following such escalation, the dispute is still not resolved to your satisfaction you may take such action as you consider appropriate, such as making a complaint to the Ombudsman or commencing legal proceedings.

Visit the website of the Office of the Ombudsman(external link)

Invalidity or unenforceability

If any of these terms of use or their application to any person or circumstances is, to any extent, held to be invalid or unenforceable:

  • the remainder of these terms of use or the application of such terms of use to any other person or circumstances shall not be affected;
  • each term shall be valid and enforceable to the extent permitted by law; and
  • the invalid or unenforceable term will be deemed to be amended to reflect, as nearly as possible, the original intention (as determined from this website).

Protection of Personal and Property Rights Act 1988

Under the Protection of Personal and Property Rights Act 1988 a court can appoint an administrator, welfare guardian or manager in respect of certain persons, their property or affairs. Where the Act or an order made under it permits use of an account contrary to these terms of use, the administrator, guardian or manager must use the account only to the extent permitted under that Act or order.

Minors' Contracts Act 1969

If, under the Minors' Contracts Act 1969, any of these terms of use is held not to be fair and reasonable, then that term or condition will be deemed to be amended in relation to the relevant user to reflect the original intention (as determined from this website) as nearly as possible, but so as to be fair and reasonable.

Amendments to terms of use and privacy statement

We can revise these terms of use and the privacy statement from time to time. We will advise you of any changes by a notice on this website. Your continued use of our services through the act of making use of your account with us, indicates your acceptance of those changes.

Public information

NZBN is a public register and the NZBN Registrar is required to make certain information relating to your business and provided by you available to the public.

Contact us

If you have any questions, please contact us.

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