Under-age scooter users risk fines with age verification checks

Scooter companies are deploying age verification to prevent children under the age of 16 from using them, as part of a broader range of new regulations governing scooter use.

While those regulations cover all of Belgium, it is in Brussels that age verification is being made mandatory for scooter operators.

“According to federal rules, electric scooters are prohibited under 16 years of age, but we find that many operators do not comply with these regulations,” said Inge Paemen of Brussels Mobility.

“That's why we are now putting age verification in as default. We put in our conditions that they are obliged to check the age of users and have been doing so since 8 July. How they do that is up to them.”

Using an electric share scooter from Voi, Bolt or Dott will now no longer be possible without age verification. Lime, affiliated with American mega-corporation Uber, is the only company refusing to comply.

The company wrote in a letter to Brussels Mobility that there is no legal basis for the age check.

“Lime meets all the conditions of the current licence,” spokesperson Hannah Landau told Bruzz.

“Requiring proof of identity is not part of that. Moreover, any user who signs our own contractual terms and conditions already acknowledges that they are 18 years or older.”

Share scooter operator Voi already experimented with age checks a few times in the past year.

“Specifically, you are now asked to take a photo of your driving licence, identity card, passport or residence permit,” said Belgian manager Yessin Aattache.

“You also have to take a selfie so we know it's you. The age verification takes less than a minute and is done by an external partner. This is a company that specialises in such checks and is fully compliant for this in terms of protecting personal data. As an operator, we do not have any access to that data or photos.”

Aattache said that adding age verification first caused Voi to lose “up to half” of its users, but that it was an important measure to implement in their pursuit of permission to operate in Brussels, which has struggled with scooter-related nuisances including haphazardly discarded scooters and under-age riders not complying with road rules.

Voi is calling on the other operators in the capital to follow the same rules, “otherwise you are left with unfair competition”.

Brussels Mobility’s Inge Paemen stressed that the final responsibility lies with the scooter users themselves.

“You are not allowed to ride an e-scooter under the age of 16, nor are you allowed to ride with two people on one scooter,” Paemen said.

“It’s ultimately up to the riders to show the necessary responsibility.”

Anyone under 16 who is caught riding an electric scooter risks a €58 fine.