Madrid is banning rental e-scooters after city officials announced that the operators, Lime, Dott, and Tier, failed to meet parking and data-sharing requirements outlined in their contracts. The city council will revoke the operators’ licenses starting in October, with no plans to issue new ones.

“The market was found to be incapable of meeting the requirements set by the mayor’s office to ensure the highest level of safety for citizens,” said Mayor José Luis Martínez-Almeida.

The companies have 20 days to appeal the decision.

Urban Mobility: This makes Madrid the third major city to ban rental e-scooters, following Paris and Melbourne. In May 2023, Madrid introduced new regulations allowing only three companies to operate 2,000 scooters each. The goal was to bring order to the city’s streets by ensuring scooters were parked in designated areas and not used in pedestrian zones or near historic parks.

However, city officials say the operators didn’t comply, with scooters continuing to park in prohibited areas and accidents still occurring. Complaints from residents about poorly parked scooters remained high despite the regulations.

Lime expressed surprise at the decision, claiming they only learned about it through media reports and requested an urgent meeting with the council. Tier and Dott declined to comment, stating they were still assessing the situation.