In Cyprus, e-scooters will be confiscated for 30 to 90 days for three violations

Cyprus is preparing a regulation that will allow electric scooters to be confiscated for a period of 30 to 90 days. The draft document has already been prepared, and the Department of Public Works has submitted it for public consultation via the e-Diavoulefsi platform: comments are being accepted until 26 September, said Harris Christodoulou, the department’s executive engineer, in comments to the Cyprus News Agency (CNA).

A police officer or an authorised traffic inspector of a municipality or community will be able to confiscate the device, in addition to issuing a fine. There are three grounds: riding in an unauthorised place, operating the scooter by a person under 17, and using a scooter capable of reaching speeds above 25 km/h. The latter figure is the legal limit.

After 30 days, the owner will be able to pay the fine and collect the device. If the fine is not paid, the scooter will remain in storage until court proceedings. Once the consultation is completed, the text will be sent to the Law Office for legislative and technical review.

According to Christodoulou, personal mobility devices may legally be used only where the speed limit does not exceed 30 km/h, as well as on cycling infrastructure. “The speed limit on the overwhelming majority of roads in urban centres is 50 kilometres per hour,” he noted, explaining that this sharply narrows the area where riding is legal. The minimum user age has meanwhile been raised to 17.

Nicosia Mayor Charalambos Prountzos said that, as part of the new licensing cycle, more than 100 scooter parking areas had been marked out together with rental companies, so that the vehicles would not be left scattered around and obstruct pedestrians. Construction of the parking areas will begin shortly.

Rental scooters operate only on authorised routes and automatically shut down outside them, but the municipality has recorded cases of the GPS system being disabled. The new licences will stipulate the automatic revocation of a rental company’s permit if its scooter is found outside an authorised route. The city is also expanding 30 km/h zones, primarily in residential neighbourhoods.