Identifying shared scooter users key in fight against drugs crime

Since the beginning of this month, shared scooter operators in Brussels are requiring their users to identify themselves by scanning their official ID card and taking a photo when they register for the service.

Bolt and Dott, the two current operators in Brussels, are required to implement these checks following the advice of a working group set up by the Conference of Mayors to promote the use of such identification as part of the fight against organised crime and drug trafficking.

The public prosecutor informed the mayors, the Brussels minister-president of Brussels and the federal interior minister of the number of serious accidents linked to the use of scooters and demonstrated that this means of transport had become frequently used for the sale and trafficking of drugs in the capital.

They asked the operators to further improve their existing system by using the face ID identification technique often used to activate a phone or access a banking app.

The operators promised to develop this process as quickly as possible in consultation with their technology providers.

Etterbeek mayor Vincent De Wolf also asked the current president of the conference of mayors, Benoit Cerexhe, to add an item to the agenda requesting the federal government to quickly adopt measures requiring the registration of private scooters.