Albania E-Scooter Laws: Nationwide Ban Since October 2025 (2026)

This article is general information about e-scooter law in Albania and is not legal advice. For a specific situation, including the seizure of a scooter, consult an Albanian lawyer or contact the State Police directly. Information last verified on 23 July 2026.

Are e-scooters legal in Albania?

No, not currently. As of 23 July 2026, riding an e-scooter, whether privately owned or from a rental scheme, on any public road in Albania is banned under Ministry of Interior Directive (Udhëzim) No. 169, issued 13 October 2025 by then-Interior Minister Albana Koçiu and State Police Director Ilir Proda. The stated justification was a run of 991 scooter-related emergency incidents recorded in 2024.

Albania does not have a dedicated e-scooter statute to begin with. The country's Road Code (Kodi Rrugor, Ligj Nr. 8378, dated 22 July 1998) contains no scooter-specific provisions at all. The ban sits above that silence, as a ministerial directive rather than an act of Parliament, which is part of why it is now facing a constitutional challenge (see below).

Albanian press described the directive as banning circulation "on public roads," and police have continued to enforce it by impounding scooters rather than issuing a schedule of fines. This article did not locate a published fine amount tied to the ban; the documented enforcement mechanism is seizure.

What counts as an e-scooter here

Because there is no dedicated statute, there is no statutory device definition either, no weight, power, or speed threshold written into Albanian law for what counts as an e-scooter. The ban applies to e-scooters as an ordinary-language category rather than to a legally defined vehicle class.

Where you can ride

Nowhere, on a public road, for the duration of the ban. Directive 169 covers both private and rental e-scooters, and Albanian coverage of the ban describes it in terms of public-road circulation generally rather than carving out an exception for sidewalks, parks, or private property.

Rider rules

There are currently no age, helmet, licence, or insurance rules in force for e-scooters in Albania, because the device category is not legally recognized at all right now; it is simply prohibited from public roads. A proposal floated earlier by opposition MPs Kliti Hoti and Erald Kapri (an "Austrian model": helmet, a mini licence plate, mini insurance, a minimum age of 16, a 25 km/h cap, and a ban from highways and sidewalks) describes what a future framework might look like, not a rule in force. That proposal, folded into a broader bill on individual electric vehicles, was rejected by Parliament's Law Commission on 17 June 2026.

Penalties

This article did not find a published fine schedule tied to Directive 169. The documented enforcement action is seizure of the scooter itself, not a monetary penalty, which is consistent with the directive functioning as an outright prohibition rather than a regulated-use framework with tiered fines.

Enforcement in practice

The ban is being actively enforced, not merely written down and ignored. Albanian press reporting from March 2026 describes roughly 1,000 e-scooters seized since the directive took effect in October 2025, and describes the ban as still "indefinite" and still being carried out. As with any legal-status article, enforcement intensity does not change what the law says, but here the two point the same direction: this is a live, currently enforced ban, not a dormant rule.

One caution for anyone researching this online: tourist and hotel-oriented e-scooter rental listings for Tirana (branded names like Hubb or Ride Albania) still turn up in search results. These read as stale listings that predate the October 2025 ban rather than confirmation of a currently operating, legal rental option, and this article could not confirm any of them are presently lawful.

Legal history and what may change

The picture as of 23 July 2026:

• 13 October 2025: Ministry of Interior Directive No. 169 bans e-scooters, private and rental, from public roads nationwide.
• 11 March 2026: two NGOs, Qëndresa Qytetare and Drejtësi Sociale, petition the Constitutional Court to strike down Directive 169 as unconstitutional, arguing it infringes freedom of movement and economic liberty. No ruling has been reported since.
• 8 May 2026: the ruling Socialist Party's own Road Code amendment package (associated with officials Manja and Braçe) touches e-scooters only incidentally, banning phone use while riding. It is not the comprehensive scooter framework the government has separately said is coming.
• 17 June 2026: Parliament's Law Commission rejects opposition MP Erald Kapri's bill to regulate individual electric vehicles, on the stated basis that the government already has its own draft out for public consultation (per Vice Minister of Interior Xhemal Qefalia).

No date has been reported for when the government's own draft Road Code amendment might pass, and the Constitutional Court has not ruled on Directive 169's validity. The Interior Ministry has also said that even once personal-use riding is eventually permitted, any such permission is intended to apply only to individuals, not to rental or commercial scooter operators, so a return of dockless share schemes should not be assumed even if the ban on private use eventually lifts.

For how other countries in the region are handling e-scooters, including neighboring Balkan states with active frameworks rather than a ban, see the full world e-scooter law guide.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it currently illegal to ride an e-scooter in Albania?

Yes. Ministry of Interior Directive No. 169, issued 13 October 2025, bans both private and rental e-scooters from all public roads, and the ban remains in force as of this writing.

Can tourists rent e-scooters in Tirana?

This article could not confirm any currently operating, legal rental scheme. Some hotel and tourism-oriented listings for Tirana e-scooter rentals still appear online, but these read as leftover listings from before the October 2025 ban rather than confirmed active, legal operations.

Why did Albania ban e-scooters?

The Ministry of Interior cited 991 scooter-related emergency incidents recorded in 2024 as the justification for Directive No. 169.

Is Albania's e-scooter ban being challenged?

Yes. Two civil society organizations, Qëndresa Qytetare and Drejtësi Sociale, filed a Constitutional Court petition on 11 March 2026 seeking to have the directive struck down as unconstitutional. No ruling had been reported as of this writing.

Will e-scooters become legal in Albania again?

Unclear. A government draft amendment to the Road Code that would eventually regulate rather than ban e-scooters remains in public consultation, with no reported passage date. The Interior Ministry has separately indicated any future personal-use permission is intended to exclude rental and commercial schemes.

Is the story about e-scooter riders needing to be 18 and under a 20 km/h limit about Albania?

No. That story, which circulates widely in Albanian-language media, describes a July 2026 law change in North Macedonia, not Albania. Albania's current e-scooter situation is a nationwide ban, not an age-and-speed framework.