Personal mobility devices (PMD) are being brought out of the "gray zone" in Russia. Rosstandart has approved a new GOST for state license plates, so soon personal electric scooters, monowheels and electric bicycles will need to be registered.
What will the license plates on electric scooters look like?
Rosstandart has approved amendments to GOST 50577, which regulates the types and sizes of state registration plates.
These are type 4B license plates: metal, two-line, measuring 137×137 mm. At the top are three letters, at the bottom are two numbers and a region code. At the same time, the image of the national flag on them will be optional.
Each scooter will require two license plates - front and rear.
Who might be affected by the new rules
According to various estimates, the innovation will affect about 1.7 million devices across the country. Now kicksharing scooters already have numbers - there are about 500 thousand of them.
Private devices (approximately 1.2 million) remain unregistered so far.
How will registration work?
The idea of mandatory registration of PMD has been discussed since 2023. Then the government instructed the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Internal Affairs to prepare appropriate measures. In September 2024, the Ministry of Transport presented amendments to the legislation.
Rosstandart explained that the new GOST creates the basis for launching a registration system. According to the Kommersant publication, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Transport plan to oblige owners of all PMD to register them in a single electronic register. You will need to pay a state fee for this.
There are fears that electric scooter license plates may run out
According to Ksenia Erdman, director of the Association of Micromobility Operators, the current license plate format is limited: the combination "three letters - two numbers - region" gives about 173 thousand options per region.
In Moscow, with codes 77, 97 and 99, this is about 519 thousand license plates. This may not be enough, especially considering not only scooters, but also courier electric bicycles, of which there are already more than 120 thousand in the capital.
At the same time, it is proposed to allow the issuance of license plates not only on metal plates, but also on a self-adhesive synthetic base.