For electric scooters, the obligation to have a license plate and insurance officially comes into force starting from 16 May 2026. The obligation, in reality, had already been introduced with the new Highway Code – which came into force in December 2024 – but it only becomes operational now after the publication in the Official Journal of the Decree of the General Directorate for Motorisation, which regulates the procedures for issuing the identification marks of predominantly electric propulsion scooters. Until now, in fact, the State had not yet published the technical implementing decrees to define the methods for requesting the license plate.
The decree, which comes into force today 18 March, gives scooter owners 60 days to adapt to the new provisions: this is why the obligation to have a license plate and insurance coverage for these vehicles will only come into effect on 16 May.
The license plate can be requested by users on the G platformonline practice management – which can be accessed via SPID or with CIE credentials – and will cost 8.66 euros: for those who do not comply with the license plate requirement (linked to the insurance requirement for scooters) there are penalties of between 100 and 400 euros.
How the electric scooter license plate will be made and where it will be installed
But, therefore, how will this mini-plate for electric scooters be made? The mark will be a plasticized sticker, clearly non-removable, produced by the State Printing and Mint Institute with anti-counterfeiting materials. The sticker must be applied to the rear mudguard or, if the scooter does not have one, to the front part of the steering column. More specifically, it will have the following characteristics:
- Rectangular shape, with dimensions 50 mm x 60 mm.
- The presence of six alphanumeric characters, reported on 2 lines: the letters will be from B to Z (with the exclusion of A, E, I, O, Q, U), while the numbers will go from 2 to 9.
- White background, with alphanumeric characters written in black.
It should be noted that the scooter license plate will not be linked to the individual vehicle, but to its owner, unlike what happens for cars or other types of vehicles: the license plate code will in fact be associated with the applicant’s tax code. This happens because the scooters are not registered in the National Vehicle Archive: in practice, this means that if the owner decides to sell the vehicle, then he will have to remove the license plate, which being personal can be installed on any new scooter.
How to request the “plate” and costs
As anticipated, the request for the sticker must be submitted via the Online Practice Management platform, logging in with SPID or via CIE credentials: once the application has been sent, the Civil Motorization Service Center will take charge of the request, requesting the State Printing and Mint Institute to produce the sticker.
Only after the conclusion of this procedure will users be able to book an appointment to collect the so-called “plate”. The cost is 8.66 euros (of which 5.03 euros for the production cost, 1.11 euros for VAT and 2.52 euros as the increase in share for the financed activities), to which however the cost of stamp duty and any motorization rights must also be added.
The obligation to have insurance and the sanctions for violators
With the entry into force of the obligation to have a license plate for scooters, the insurance obligation will consequently also come into force: the new Highway Code, which came into force in December 2024, provides that “predominantly electric-powered scooters cannot be put into circulation if they are not covered by the insurance for civil liability towards third parties provided for by article 2054 of the civil code”.
The installation of the plate, in reality, serves precisely to give effect to the insurance obligation, introduced by the State with the aim of making it easier to identify the owner of the vehicle: being a mark that certainly associates the scooter with its owner, it also allows us to speed up the timescale for compensation for damages in the event of accidents.
As also reported by Assoutenti (National Association of Public Service Users), the cost of insurance coverage for damages to third parties caused while riding the scooter (such as injuries to pedestrians or cyclists or damage to other vehicles) varies from 25 to 150 euros per year, depending on the type of policy and the additional guarantees chosen. For those who do not comply with the obligation to have a sticker or insurance for the scooter, the new Highway Code provides for fines of 100 up to 400 euros.
