Bahrain E-Scooter Laws: Decision No. 58/2026 Speed Caps and Gear Rules (2026)

This article is general information about e-scooter law in Bahrain and is not legal advice. Rules can change quickly, especially given how recently Decision No. 58 of 2026 was issued, so confirm current requirements with Bahrain's General Directorate of Traffic or Ministry of Interior before riding or renting. Information last verified on 23 July 2026.

Are e-scooters legal in Bahrain?

Yes, with conditions. As of May 2026, Bahrain regulates e-scooters directly under Decision No. 58 of 2026, issued by Interior Minister General Shaikh Rashid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa and reported as published in Bahrain's Official Gazette. The decision places electric bicycles, electric scooters, off-road motorcycles, ATVs, modified off-road vehicles, and small electric toy vehicles within the framework of Bahrain's 2014 Traffic Law, rather than leaving them in an undefined regulatory gap.

This makes Bahrain the most legally developed country covered in this batch of Gulf and Levant jurisdictions: a genuine, dedicated, recent government instrument, not a general vehicle definition stretched to cover a device the law was never written for.

Private e-scooters

Under the new decision, private e-scooters are lawful to ride, but only on internal roads, and only up to a maximum speed of 25 km/h. Riding on highways is prohibited outright.

Rental e-scooters

Rental e-scooters are also legal. Commercial rental businesses operate in Manama, Bahrain Bay, and Muharraq, and the decision explicitly empowers Bahrain's General Directorate of Traffic to inspect rental outlets and event organizers for compliance with safety standards and age restrictions, treating rental as a recognized, regulated activity.

What counts as an e-scooter here

Decision No. 58/2026 groups several small-vehicle categories together rather than defining an e-scooter alone: electric bicycles, electric scooters, off-road motorcycles, ATVs, modified off-road vehicles, and small electric toy vehicles. Reporting on the decision does not give a numeric power or weight threshold separating a regulated e-scooter from an exempt device, so treat any standing or kick-style electric scooter as covered.

Where you can ride

Internal roads are the only lawful place to ride, at speeds up to 25 km/h. Highways are off-limits under the decision. No source found for this article addressed sidewalks, footpaths, or dedicated cycle lanes specifically, so that is a genuine information gap rather than a rule to guess at.

Rider rules

A helmet is mandatory for both e-bike and e-scooter riders. E-scooter riders must additionally wear shoulder, hand, and leg protection gear, according to reporting on the decision. The General Directorate of Traffic is empowered to inspect rental outlets and event organizers for compliance with age restrictions, which implies a minimum-age rule exists, though the exact age was not reported consistently.

One outlet's figure of a minimum age as low as 7 for supervised e-scooter use, against 16 for e-bikes, appeared in only one of the three sources reviewed for this article and reads as unusually low for a 25 km/h powered device. Treat that specific number as unconfirmed rather than a fact to rely on. No source found addressed licensing or insurance requirements for e-scooters specifically.

Penalties

Reporting on Decision No. 58/2026 describes penalties that can include imprisonment, fines, and vehicle confiscation for up to 60 days, with auction or disposal of vehicles that go unclaimed. This followed a narrower interim rule: on 10 February 2025, Bahrain's General Directorate of Traffic banned unlicensed electric scooters from public roads, major traffic lanes, road shoulders, emergency lanes, and designated stopping areas, grounded in the pre-existing 2014 Traffic Law. Violators of that interim rule faced immediate seizure and legal action.

No source reviewed for this article gave a specific fine amount in Bahraini dinars for a first violation, so treat the confiscation and imprisonment consequences above as the confirmed penalty framework, without a precise fine schedule attached.

Enforcement in practice

Bahrain's enforcement approach has moved from a targeted crackdown toward a broader, more systematic framework. The February 2025 interim rule specifically targeted unlicensed e-scooters for immediate seizure. Decision No. 58/2026, about fifteen months later, replaced that narrower approach with a comprehensive regulation covering speed limits, protective gear, and rental-outlet inspection, suggesting a shift toward routine enforcement, though the decision is too recent for this article to assess how consistently it is being applied.

Bahrain Electric Scooter Team (BEST), a local advocacy group, pushed back on the February 2025 crackdown, arguing that road-safety policy should apply uniformly to all vehicle types rather than singling out scooters. That the law exists and is being formalized does not mean every scooter on Bahrain's roads is compliant with it, and enforcement intensity does not change what the decision itself requires.

Legal history and what may change

Bahrain's e-scooter regulation has developed in two stages within about a year. The first was the February 2025 interim rule, a targeted ban on unlicensed scooters built on the existing 2014 Traffic Law. The second was Decision No. 58 of 2026, issued in May 2026, which replaced that narrower approach with a dedicated, comprehensive framework covering both e-bikes and e-scooters.

The facts in this article rest on three independent secondary news outlets that each cite and quote the Gazette-published decision consistently with one another, rather than on a direct reading of the Official Gazette or the Ministry of Legal Affairs legislation database. Anyone relying on an exact figure, such as a specific age threshold, an exact fine amount, or the precise wording of a protective-gear requirement, should confirm it against Bahrain's own Gazette text or the General Directorate of Traffic before treating it as final.

For how a neighboring Gulf country handles the same question with a different, city-by-city structure, see the world e-scooter law guide for a full country-by-country comparison.