Bolt has ruled out legal action against the government over its decision to ban rental e-scooters in Malta from March.

Instead, Bolt and its main competitor, the operator of Bird scooters, are seeking to meet transport minister Aaron Farrugia and find a “balanced solution”.

“Court is not the answer to the problem; building parking infrastructure across Malta, working together with authorities and implementing a new parking regulation is the solution to this problem,” a Bolt spokesperson said.

“As an international company operating in more than 250 cities and 25 countries, we have been collaborating with cities everywhere and we believe that only by working together can we find a more balanced solution,” the spokesperson said.

“We are also looking forward to meeting the minister in person in order to understand the reasons behind this extreme decision, which, unfortunately, has only been shared with us through the media.”

The ban was not discussed in the last meeting with Transport Malta. The company was instead asked to suggest parking zones in localities where rental e-scooters are popular- Seven Group director Roberto Pestana

By Wednesday morning, Bolt said it had received no response from the transport minister's team for their request to meet. 

Similarly, Seven Group, the company that operates Bird scooters, said: “The operators are looking to meet the minister in person to understand the reasons behind this extreme decision.”

“Please, minister Aaron Farrugia, accept to meet us,” Seven Group director Roberto Pestana said in a direct appeal.

He said the ban was not discussed in the last meeting he had with Transport Malta. The company was instead asked to suggest parking zones in localities where rental e-scooters are popular.

Last week, the transport ministry announced that Malta will ban the rental of electric scooters from March 1 because of the “disturbances” endured by the community and the high number of illegalities committed by users.

Private scooters will not be affected by the decision but financial incentives will be given for their use.