Russia to ban two people from riding a single e-scooter and prohibit delivery couriers from using sidewalks

Russia’s Transport Ministry has finished drafting a sweeping package of amendments to the traffic code that would, among other things, regulate personal mobility devices, including electric scooters, electric bicycles, and pit bikes.The draft will soon be published for public discussion, the Russian business daily Kommersant reported.The amendments would classify electric scooters and electric bicycles with motors rated from 250 watts to 4 kilowatts as “mechanical vehicles,” requiring riders to hold a driver’s license with category M.These electric scooters and electric bicycles would be barred from pedestrian zones and sidewalks. The new rules would also bar delivery couriers from riding on sidewalks.Other electric scooters would be allowed on sidewalks and roadways where there are no dedicated bike lanes. Children under 16 would be barred from riding in “public areas”: streets, squares, and boulevards.The amendments would also ban riding an electric scooter with two people at once and introduce paid parking for personal mobility devices at designated areas.The measures in the draft amendments have been discussed repeatedly in Russia before. In March 2026, for instance, President Vladimir Putin instructed the Transport Ministry and the Interior Ministry, along with the Human Rights Council, to consider banning couriers from riding electric bicycles on sidewalks.Proposals have also included mandatory registration of all personal mobility devices. That measure is not included in the draft amendments reviewed by Kommersant, but it does appear in a previously approved “roadmap for improving the regulation of personal mobility device use.”At Meduza, we are committed to transparency about our use of artificial intelligence in the newsroom. The story you’re reading was written by one of our living, breathing journalists and translated from Russian using an AI model configured to follow our strict editorial standards. This translation process is the result of extensive testing and refinements to ensure our English-language coverage is timely and accurate. A Meduza editor reviews every draft before publication.If you find any errors in this translation, please contact us at [email protected].To read Meduza’s exclusive content in English, please subscribe to our newsletter.