Brunei E-Scooter Laws: Swept Into Motor Vehicle Rules (2026)

This article is general information about e-scooter law in Brunei and is not legal advice. If you are considering bringing or using a powered scooter in Brunei, Brunei's Land Transport Department (JPD) or a Bruneian lawyer can give you a current, situation-specific answer. Information last verified on 23 July 2026.

Are e-scooters legal in Brunei?

Brunei has no law written specifically for e-scooters, personal mobility devices, or micromobility of any kind. The country's core road traffic statute, the Road Traffic Act (Chapter 68), defines "motor vehicle" in its Interpretation section as "any mechanically propelled vehicle intended or adapted for use on roads." That wording contains no exclusion for electric or battery propulsion and no separate category for a low-power device like a kick-scooter.

That absence of a dedicated rule is not the same as e-scooters being free to use. Because a powered standing scooter is a mechanically propelled vehicle intended for road use, it falls inside the "motor vehicle" definition by default, which brings it under the same registration and driving licence requirements written for cars and motorcycles, obligations a consumer e-scooter is not built to satisfy. Being swept into a heavier regulatory category is a stricter outcome than a genuine legal vacuum, not a lighter one. For how other countries around the world classify e-scooters by comparison, see the e-scooter laws by country guide.

What counts as an e-scooter here

Brunei's Land Transport Department (JPD) publishes dozens of instruments under the Road Traffic Act, covering bicycles, driving licences, seat belts, protective helmets, third-party insurance and school crossings among others. None of them is specific to e-scooters or personal mobility devices. Bicycles get their own dedicated regulation; powered scooters get nothing equivalent. A powered scooter is therefore evaluated under the Act's general "motor vehicle" definition rather than any device-specific rule, meaning there is no wattage limit, speed limit, or size threshold written for e-scooters specifically.

Neighbouring Singapore takes the opposite approach, with a dedicated Active Mobility Act and its own device rules; see Singapore's PMD and e-scooter rules for the contrast.

Where you can ride

Because the Act treats a powered scooter as a motor vehicle, riding one on a public road without registration and a licence would fall outside the law in the same way driving an unregistered car would. No source located for this article describes a lawful path for riding an unregistered, unlicensed e-scooter on Brunei's roads, cycle paths, or sidewalks. Sidewalks are built for pedestrians, and nothing in the regulations JPD lists creates an exception for scooters there either.

Rider rules

The Act's registration provision (s.5) and driving licence provisions (ss.16 to 22) apply to anything meeting the "motor vehicle" definition. In practice this means a standing e-scooter would need to go through the same registration and driving licence process as a car or motorcycle, a process not designed around a low-power personal device and not confirmed by this research to have a workable path for one.

No age or helmet requirement specific to e-scooters was found, because no e-scooter category exists to attach one to. Whatever age and licensing standards apply to the general driving licence categories under ss.16 to 22 would be the applicable standard, another sign of how far a scooter sits from a rule actually written with it in mind.

Penalties

The Road Traffic Act provides for offences around driving an unregistered vehicle and driving without a licence, but this research did not confirm the specific fine or penalty amounts that would apply, so no figure is stated here. Treat the absence of a confirmed number as a gap in the research, not as evidence the offence carries no penalty.

Enforcement in practice

No enforcement data, whether citation counts, seizures, or reported incidents, involving e-scooters in Brunei was found in this research. Enforcement patterns do not change what the statute requires, and an absence of documented enforcement is not a signal that riding one is permitted; it means only that no public data on the point exists.