The mayor of the Spanish capital Madrid has announced a ban on electric scooters rented through a mobile app after three licensed electric scooter operators in the city failed to regulate customer movement and manage parking.
Mayor José Luis Martínez Almeida said Thursday that the licenses of Lime, Dot and Tier Mobility will be revoked starting in October, adding that the city has no plans to grant new licenses to other operators.
“The market was found to be unable to meet the requirements set out by the mayor's office to ensure the highest level of safety for citizens,” he said in a statement.
“Scooter sharing systems” have sparked protests in cities around the world due to reckless driving and disorderly parking by some users.
Paris banned the rental of electric scooters last year after a public consultation.
Madrid's city council has been regulating the electric scooter rental market since May 2023, authorising only Amsterdam-based Dot, Germany's Tier Mobility and the US-based Lime, whose scooters can be used through Uber's app.
They were each given the authority to rent out 2,000 scooters.
The three operators are to give the mayor's office access to their data and are ordered to implement technology to ensure customers park their scooters in permitted areas and prevent them from renting them near pedestrianized paths or historical parks.
The operator failed to meet these conditions, the statement said, adding that it had 20 days to appeal.
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Dot, Lime and Tia did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
