A ban on renting e-kick scooters will take effect from 1 March 2024, the Transport Ministry has announced.

In a statement on Thursday, the Ministry said that while there will be a ban on the rental of these scooters, the use of privately owned scooters will remain permissible under currently existing laws.

“The government intends to introduce incentives to encourage individuals interested in using this mode of transportation to own their e-kick scooters,” the ministry said.

The government said that this initiative aims to promote responsible e-kick scooter usage and reduce inconvenience for communities and people.

“Despite increased enforcement and fines, communities have continued to endure the disturbances caused by rented e-kick scooters. These enforcement resources will also be redirected towards other efforts aimed at enhancing road safety,” the ministry said.

“Once again, measures are being taken to prioritise order and public safety.”

Rental e-kick scooters have been the source of many complaints from residents, particularly in zones heavily frequented by tourists, due to the way many of them are left haphazardly on public pavements.

Earlier this week Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri told Parliament that LESA and the police have issued a total of 10,943 fines with regards to e-scooters in 2023, with 2,954 fines issued in Sliema alone, and 2,137 issued in St Julians in the same year.

The government had seemingly begun to embrace the alternative mode of transport, with Transport Minister Aaron Farrugia telling Parliament last March that it was looking into introducing parking bays specifically for e-scooters after a pilot project in San Gwann was successful.

However this never materialised, and it appears that the government has called it quits in trying to regulate the rental market for these scooters despite the fact that – as Farrugia himself had told Parliament – that the largest company which provided them oversaw some 15,000 daily e-scooter rides per day during summer.