The administration of Nizhny Novgorod intends to limit the number of e-scooters for kicksharing operators — Whoosh, Urent, and Yandex Go. The limits are planned to be fixed in the agreement for the 2026 season, which is set from April 1 to October 15. This was announced by the director of the transport department, Andrey Zhitnikov, at a meeting of the profile commission of the city Duma on March 20. In 2025, the number of scooter trips in Nizhny Novgorod decreased from 3 to 2 million, and the length of routes decreased from 6 to 4 million km. Operators attribute the decline to new restrictions and internet outages.
Kicksharing violations in Nizhny Novgorod: fines and seizures in 2025
The Department of Administrative and Technical Control drew up 1.2 thousand protocols for placing scooters outside designated areas — for a total amount of 33.7 million rubles. Almost 1.9 thousand scooters were seized. Operators appealed 663 resolutions, and courts considered 44 cases. Fines were voluntarily paid on 134 resolutions. Under the article on non-execution of decisions of local authorities, 268 resolutions were issued, all of which are being challenged in courts.
The department is also dissatisfied with the fact that Whoosh continued to operate after October 15 without coordination. The department warned that if the season is extended without coordination in 2026, it is ready to seize all 12 thousand scooters of the operator.
Why operators are against kicksharing restrictions
Whoosh representative Ayrat Shaydukov cited safety statistics: in 2025, there were 41 fatal cases with private scooters and 13 with rental scooters. According to him, kicksharing restrictions push users to buy their own scooters — they are more powerful and do not have automatic speed locks. The operator asks the mayor's office to expand the parking network for personal mobility devices.
In response, the department asked Whoosh for access to data on the location of scooters through the application — according to officials, the operator itself does not always know where its equipment is located and is slow to respond to requests to remove scooters in violation.