Cairo’s decision to confiscate children’s electric scooters and take action against shops selling them has stirred debate among residents and disrupted the electric two-wheeler market. Some welcome a measure intended to protect children after fatal road crashes. Traders and users, however, say indiscriminate enforcement has harmed businesses and confused buyers.
The announcement on 28 October 2025 targeted small scooters used by children on public streets. In a clarification issued the same day, Cairo Governorate said the ban applied only to the type shown in its accompanying photograph, not to other forms of electric two-wheelers. Traders interviewed for this report nevertheless say enforcement extended to adult models, with stock seized from shops in Abdeen, Maadi and Rushdi Street.
Ahmed Hassan, a pseudonym for a trader who owns an electric-bike shop in central Cairo, describes what happened as arbitrary. “Traders do not know whether there are fines or a procedure for recovering the confiscated goods,” he tells Zawia3. “The district authorities seized scooters from my shop downtown, and the same thing happened to colleagues elsewhere.”
He says enforcement in Cairo has been unjustifiably severe, whereas in Giza it has been more restrained and focused on businesses renting scooters to children. Hassan also questions the apparent contradiction between seizures and the lawful production and import of electric vehicles. The Arab Organization for Industrialization manufactures adult electric two-wheelers, while traders import other models from China. “If these products are prohibited, why are they allowed to be produced or imported in the first place?” he asks.
Hassan says he understands the safety concerns but wants clear rules distinguishing vehicle categories and setting out how each may be licensed and used. In his view, uncertainty has allowed authorities to seize vehicles on the grounds that they fall outside licensing arrangements. He argues that electric scooters can be an economical form of transport with no exhaust emissions at the point of use and should have a place in a modern transport system.
The governorate says its ban concerns a specified type of children’s scooter. Traders say enforcement has also swept up adult models. The distinction between the written policy and its implementation lies at the heart of the dispute.
Cairo Governor Ibrahim Saber directed his deputies and district heads to act against shops selling the targeted scooters. In a 30 October statement, the governorate reported closing a shop in Nozha that sold and rented children’s scooters because it operated without a licence and conducted an unauthorised activity. It also reported seizures during district campaigns.
Giza Governor Adel al-Naggar had issued similar directions on 25 July. The governorate described its campaign as targeting children and adolescents using unlicensed recreational scooters on main roads and public streets, where they posed risks to riders and pedestrians. Subsequent campaigns seized scooters rented to children.
The effects extend beyond large traders. Nasr Mubarak, 59, is a former employee whose chronic rheumatoid arthritis and severe visual impairment forced him into early retirement. He sought a small business that could support his family.
Inspired by scooter rentals for holidaymakers in Alexandria, Mubarak invested his savings in three electric scooters and a motorcycle to rent to young people. He says the recent decisions brought his business to a halt: customers feared confiscation, even though he lives in an Aswan village where the measures had not been implemented.
“My scooters are for adults, not children, and their maximum speed is 40 kilometres an hour,” Mubarak says. “They are useful for getting around villages without enough transport. I spent all my savings buying them, and now I do not know what to do.”
He has five children at different stages of education and says he now depends on EGP 1,800 a month from his late father’s pension. Rising living costs make the loss of the business particularly difficult.
Other residents interviewed by Zawia3 describe electric scooters as a way to reduce transport expenses. They compare their purchase and running costs favourably with conventional motorcycles, especially as fuel becomes more expensive. Others welcome restrictions because they fear for their children’s safety.
Those fears have a tragic basis. In February 2025, a child riding a rented electric scooter in Cairo’s Gesr al-Suez area died after a collision with a truck. On 27 July 2024, a car struck an electric scooter carrying three children in Nasr City, killing two and seriously injuring the third, according to the reports cited in the Arabic original.
Amr Roshdy, a Mostaqbal Watan MP on parliament’s Local Administration Committee, said the Cairo decision followed requests he had made to the governor and parliamentary questions about scooter use in Zeitoun and Amiriya. He argued that uncontrolled use threatened children and school pupils.
Lawyer Ayman Mahfouz had also submitted a complaint to the Cabinet on 15 February calling for children’s electric scooters to be kept off Egypt’s streets. He cited road risks, rental to school pupils and battery hazards, and urged tighter controls on import, sale and use.
Locally manufactured electric vehicles
The Egyptian market includes more than imported children’s scooters. The Arab Organization for Industrialization’s Kader Factory for Developed Industries produces adult electric two-wheelers. Its chairman, Major General Mokhtar Abdel Latif, tells Zawia3 that production combines locally made and imported components.
He says the organisation began producing these vehicles around three years earlier. Prices vary with specifications, including battery range and speed, and run from approximately EGP 15,000 to EGP 100,000. He denies that the organisation makes the small children’s models imported ready-made.
“The organisation produces electric bikes resembling motorcycles in their design and use,” he says. “Some are licensed in the same way as conventional motorcycles. I believe the Cairo governor’s decision concerns children’s scooters, not this category; otherwise motorcycles would have to be banned as well.”
Abdel Latif says Kader’s models meet safety standards, with some reaching around 120 kilometres an hour. He presents them as economical alternatives to petrol motorcycles, easier to ride and lighter in weight. Their suitability for a particular road still depends on the specific model, licensing and applicable traffic requirements.
He reports growing interest from young buyers and invites the media to inspect the factory’s different models and production lines. The organisation’s product catalogue includes the DM-2000R electric scooter.
Electric-scooter marketer Marwa Mohamed says models on the market differ in motor power and battery capacity. She describes three price bands: a small 450-watt model at around EGP 10,000, a 650-watt model at around EGP 14,000, and a larger 2,000-watt model at approximately EGP 35,000. These are the specifications and prices she quoted at the time of reporting; watts measure power, not battery storage capacity.
Mohamed says the smaller models are marketed to younger users, while medium models appeal to older teenagers and young adults. She describes the models she sells as unlicensed for ordinary road use and intended for recreation or travel within enclosed areas. Some shops rent them by the hour. Her account underscores the importance of distinguishing these products from electric motorcycles that may fall within a licensing category.
Clear rules and safe routes
Hassan Mahdy, professor of roads and transport at Ain Shams University’s Faculty of Engineering, says small electric scooters may be suitable within gated communities, holiday resorts and areas with properly designed routes. Mixing vulnerable riders with fast traffic on public roads creates serious danger, particularly when users are unlicensed or unfamiliar with traffic rules.
Many Egyptian roads lack suitable pavements or dedicated cycling lanes, he says. Poor lighting on some roads, combined with inadequate lights on some electric vehicles, increases the risk of collisions. He favours defined areas of use rather than unrestricted access to main roads and highways.
“These vehicles can be useful for deliveries within limited areas,” Mahdy says. “But using them over long distances or on fast roads poses a major risk. Clear legislation is needed to regulate licensing and ensure safety standards before their use expands.”
He points to an earlier Egyptian scooter-sharing experiment in which users rented vehicles and paid through an app. In his assessment, limited demand and weak familiarity with shared transport prevented it from achieving the intended results. He calls for evaluating those shortcomings rather than abandoning low-cost, cleaner transport options.
Mahdy argues that small vehicles assembled from imported parts need clear technical standards and an effective approval process. He proposes bringing suitable models into a regulated system while creating safe routes, starting in selected areas and expanding as experience demonstrates what works.
Environmental lawyer Ahmed al-Saeedi, chair of the Egyptian Foundation for Environmental Rights, sees the Cairo controversy as a symptom of a wider regulatory problem. He argues that traffic legislation originating in 1973 has struggled to keep pace with new transport technologies.
That criticism should not be taken to mean the law has never been amended or contains no provisions for newer vehicle categories. Rather, al-Saeedi’s concern is the gap between broad legal categories, practical licensing arrangements and the diversity of products now sold.
He says local authorities often respond through individual decisions without adequate public participation or consultation with environmental specialists. In his view, prohibitions alone are unlikely to resolve a market that already exists. Regulation should protect children and pedestrians while allowing suitable vehicles to provide affordable transport.
He points to the role of cycling infrastructure, incentives and public awareness in countries such as the Netherlands. His argument is that safer infrastructure and clear rules can support low-emission mobility, rather than forcing a choice between unrestricted use and blanket prohibition.
“How can we ban an environmentally friendly form of transport while trying to reduce emissions and encourage cleaner energy?” he asks. Electric vehicles have no tailpipe emissions, although their overall environmental impact also depends on electricity generation, manufacturing and battery disposal.
Chambers of commerce seek clarity
Osama al-Shahid, head of the Giza Chamber of Commerce, tells Zawia3 that the chamber is studying the decisions and their effects on traders, stock already on the market and people who already own scooters.
“We are following the situation closely before taking it up with the relevant authorities and taking the necessary steps to protect affected traders and consumers,” he says. The chamber intends to discuss the details with the Giza governor before issuing an official position.
Al-Shahid says some affected traders have already submitted complaints. Consumers may do the same if confiscation or restrictions cause them financial loss.
Ayman al-Ashri, head of the Cairo Chamber of Commerce, gives a different account. He tells Zawia3 he had not been informed of a decision to confiscate electric scooters or close shops selling them. He says he met the governor on the day of the interview, but scooters were not discussed.
“The Cairo Chamber of Commerce has not yet received complaints from traders or shop owners about this,” he says. “I will contact the relevant authorities in Cairo Governorate to establish the position and follow up.” His lack of notification contrasts with the governorate’s published statements.
A 2021 amendment, not a new November 2025 law
The parliamentary reports cited in the original article concern approval of amendments reported on 1 November 2021, not a new vote in November 2025. They described the introduction of a driving-licence category for light motorised two-wheelers from age 16.
In remarks broadcast that same day in 2021, Deputy Speaker Ahmed Saad distinguished this category from ordinary motorcycles and tuk-tuks. He said technical specifications, including speed, would govern eligibility, so not every small motorised vehicle would automatically qualify.
The distinction matters: earlier legislative changes do not establish that every product sold as a scooter is licensed for public-road use. Equally, the governorate’s clarification does not describe a blanket ban on all adult electric two-wheelers.
For traders and consumers, the immediate need is for consistent enforcement and clear practical distinctions between children’s recreational scooters, other unlicensed models and vehicles that meet road-licensing requirements. The challenge is to protect life without leaving lawful businesses and buyers uncertain about what they may sell, own or use.
