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New Trend in Urban Transportation: The Electric Scooters Regulation Entered into Force

New Trend in Urban Transportation: The Electric Scooters Regulation Entered into Force

The usage of electric scooters, which first came into our lives with "Martı" and recently increased in number, is becoming more and more widespread, especially in short-distance travels.

The usage of these means of transportation that frequently appeared in metropolitans since 2018 is now regulated upon entry into force of the “Electric Scooters Regulation” [the “Regulation”] published in the Official Gazette dated 14.04.2021 and prepared on the basis of Article 66 of the Highway Traffic Law.

The rules to be followed by the electric scooter [“e-scooter”] users, as well as the license requirements for the service providers and the terms and conditions for the sharing service to be provided, have been comprehensively clarified by the Regulation.

E-scooter Businesses can be conducted by the E-scooter License and E-scooter Permission Holders

In order to provide e-scooter sharing services, individuals or legal entities who are eligible to fulfil the general and special terms and conditions under the Regulation need to obtain a license from the authority by submitting the documents confirming their eligibility. The license applications will be made to the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure.  

The Regulation clearly stipulates that the joint ventures are not entitled to obtain a licence. The impact of company split-up, mergers and conversions in company type on the effectiveness of licenses is also regulated.  

Main special conditions regarding the license applications are as follows:

- Having a share capital or business capital in the amount of at least 500,000 Turkish Liras,

- Having an appropriate website or application for the services to be provided,

- Having the servers where the database regarding the activities is stored located in Turkey and keeping it accessible for the authority,

- Having at least 250 e-scooters.

It is also envisaged to set up a registration system [“U-Net”] to be managed by the authority, in which registration record for all active e-scooters will be uploaded. Moreover, the individual or legal entity license holders must also obtain a permission from the UKOME or provincial traffic commissions for providing e-scooter sharing services.

Permit Application is Evaluated Separately for Each Municipality

The number of permitted e-scooters cannot exceed 1/200 of the district population in metropolitan cities and 1/200 of the municipal population in non-metropolitan areas. On the other hand, each license holder can obtain permission up to one-fifth of the foregoing numbers for each municipality. It should however be noted that the e-scooter permit applications made to UKOME and provincial traffic commissions will be evaluated separately for each municipality. Accordingly, if the number of permits requested from a municipality exceeds the number of e-scooter permits that can be issued, the license holders will be granted with the permit in proportion to the number of their application requests.   

In addition, the validity period of the licenses issued by the authorities is limited to 5 [five] years, whereas the duration of the e-scooter permits is limited to 2 [two] years. These terms can be renewed or extended upon application.

Obligations of License Holders

Article 16 of the Regulation imposes substantial obligations and liabilities on those that will provide e-scooter sharing service pursuant to the licenses to be issued by the authority. First and foremost, the license holders are solely allowed to operate within the boundaries of permitted area and required to return the e-scooters taken out of the boundaries into the permitted area within 48 hours.

The obligations of the license holders have been significantly expanded by referring to the laws on environment and human health, Public Health Law No. 1593 as well as Law No. 6698 on Protection of Personal Data

On the other hand, following the reference to the Law No. 6502 on Consumer Protection in relation to the customers, the expression of “The license holders must provide its services to the customers in the perfect manner” stated in the Regulation demonstrates the broad obligations and liabilities imposed on the service providers towards the customers. In this respect, the license holders are obliged:

- To provide online training for the customers and check whether this training has been completed by them,

- To inform the customers about wearing protective equipment such as helmets and knee pads while driving an e-scooter,

- To elucidate the customers regarding the legal actions to be taken in accordance with the Highway Traffic Law No. 2918 due to their wrongful acts in traffic.

Moreover, it is compulsory for the individuals being at least 15 years old in order to be able to utilize the services to be provided by the license holders.

While the Regulation requires executing an agreement by and between the license holders and the customers, it also enables such agreements to be concluded online.

Position of the Currently Operating Service Providers

The Regulation grants a temporary exemption to individual and legal entities who are currently providing e-scooters sharing services. Accordingly, those who commenced to operate before 14.04.2021 will be exempt from the provisions of the Regulation until 31.07.2021. Thus, the current service providers will three and a half months to be in compliance with the latest rules.  

Rules to be Followed by the E-scooter Drivers

Although the Regulation fundamentally regulates the terms and conditions of the e-scooter sharing services, i.e., the use of e-scooter through the short-term lease agreements, the rules stipulated in Article 5 are also applicable for those who drive his/her own e-scooter. Accordingly, the followings are prohibited for the e-scooter drivers:

- Driving e-scooters in the traffic regardless of there is a separate cycle path of bike lane, driving on motorways, intercity highways and highways with a maximum speed limit above 50 km per hour, driving more than two e-scooters side by side in the same traffic lane, driving on pedestrian roads and parking in a way that [i] violates the public order, private property rights and [ii] prevents the independent and safe movement of pedestrians, disabled individuals, or people having mobility disorder, the vehicle and pedestrian traffic;

- Carrying other individuals and things other than the personal belongings in the e-scooter.

 

Please contact us for any question on the matter.