One in four e-scooter fines given out last year was in Sliema, figures tabled in Parliament on Tuesday show.

According to the figures, tabled by Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri in reply to a parliamentary question by Nationalist MP Graziella Attard Previ, 1,275 of the total 4,702 fines given in 27 localities in 2021 were in  Sliema.

The fines were given by the Local Enforcement System Agency (LESA) and the police. A year earlier only four fines had been issued.

The figures were provided by Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri, who also tabled a list of the type of e-scooter contraventions issued.

Only last week, Attard Previ highlighted the need for stricter regulations in the use of e-scooters. 

The 27 localities where LESA officials and police gave e-scooter fines. Photo: Parliament

The highest number of e-scooter contraventions after Sliema were in St Julian’s, with 1,110 fines being issued. St Julian's was followed by Gżira (554), Msida (532) and San Ġwann (273).

Obstruction or inconvenience to public 

According to the figures, most e-scooter contraventions - 1,491 - were for causing an obstruction or inconvenience to the public.

Another 1,253 were for parking on the pavement, 724 for obstructing free passage and 644 for parking on a double yellow line.

Attard Previ also asked for a breakdown of the number of fines issued so far in 2022, and the reason. 

A total of 128 fines were issued between January and May this year, with the highest number - 45 - once again being in Sliema. St Julian's followed with 18 ticketed contraventions.

Earlier this year, Times of Malta reported how "hundreds" of e-scooter parking tickets are being struck off the system after a magistrate found a flaw in the way the Law Enforcement System Agency was issuing the contraventions. 

Back in April, Magistrate Victor George Axiak ruled that the citations should have been issued against the company’s representative rather than in his personal capacity. He was ruling in cases brought against Roberto Pestana de Faria, a director of Seven Group Malta Limited, operators of Bird scooters.

The court ruled in Pestana de Faria's favour after noting that LESA had issued the fines in his name rather than in the name of the company registered as the lawful owner.