High fees for e-scooters are allowed – Rhineland – news
The four rental companies had against the special usage fees that the city of Cologne had been charging since last summer lime, level, Voi and bolt sued. According to the distributors, the municipal fees in Cologne are far too high. In other cities, significantly lower applications would be required.
“In principle, we are in favor of fair market regulation and also for fees that are proportionate“, says Anna Montasser, spokeswoman for the e-scooter rental company, dem WDR. However, the fees in Cologne are neither proportionate nor fair.
scooter-Distributors see economic success at risk
For example, only a fee of ten euros per year is due for a rental bike in Cologne, for one electric scooter be it 13 times as much. The high fees for electric scooter would jeopardize the economic success of the company. According to the local mobility law of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, this is not permitted, say the distributors.
The lender’s attorney bolt even assumes that for electric scooter no special usage fees may be charged at all. That is not provided for by law.
Court gives the city of Cologne a lot of leeway with fees
The court dismissed the claims of the four companies. Reason: The city of Cologne has a wide scope when it comes to designing special usage fees. The different fees for rental bikes and electric scooter are justified that the electric scooters block many footpaths and cycle paths caused by them. In addition, bicycles made a greater contribution to reducing individual car traffic than electric scooter.
The court was also of the opinion that the rental of electric scooters would not become uneconomical due to the fees.