Owners of electric scooters will have until May 16, 2026 to equip their vehicle with an identification mark, a sort of license plate necessary for traveling on the road. The obligation of the “plate”, already provided for by law no. 177 of 25 November 2024, will officially come into force on 17 May, while for civil liability insurance the maximum terms have been postponed to 16 July 2026, so as to give insurance companies time to work towards offering adequate policies. The use of a helmet is also mandatory.
For about two months, therefore, you will have scooters equipped with license plates, but without insurance coverage: for those who do not comply with the obligation, the expected penalties range from 100 to 400 euros.
The request for the identification mark must be made via the Motorist Portal: the total cost will be around 35 euros (including tax, fixed costs and motorization fees) and the plate will be nominal, therefore linked to the owner’s tax code (and not to the physical vehicle, as happens for example for cars).
How to request the permit for the electric scooter, step by step
To request the identification mark for your electric scooter, the procedure begins on the Motorist Portal, which can be accessed via SPID or CIE. More specifically, applicants must:
- Complete the request form for the issue of the identification mark, available in the “Forms” section at the bottom of the page dedicated to scooters on the Motorist Portal. There are two versions of the form, one for adult applicants and one for minors: in the latter case, the application must be presented and signed by the person exercising parental responsibility. It should be remembered, however, that the minimum age to ride an electric scooter is 14 years.
- Once the form has been filled out, payment of the N174 fee must be made via PagoPA. Anyone who owns multiple scooters can submit a cumulative request, paying a single tax for the entire request.
- Once the payment has been completed, you can access the “Online Practice Management” section on the Motorist Portal. From here you select the Civil Motorization Office (UMC) where you intend to collect the permit and choose the “Release scooter permit” procedure.
At this point, before completing the procedure, the system will ask you to upload a series of documents, namely:
- The completed and signed form.
- The payment receipt and a photocopy of a valid identification document of the holder.
- For non-EU citizens it is also necessary to attach a copy of the residence permit, residence card or long-term stay card.
After entering the request, you will receive communication on the outcome of the request via email. If the outcome is positive, you will access “Online Practice Management” again and in the “My requests” section you will be able to book an appointment to collect the permit at the indicated Civil Motorization Office.
On the day of the appointment it is necessary to show up with the booking receipt and the identity document used during the request phase: the operator carries out the checks, proceeds with the matching and delivers the pass.
Once the mark has been obtained, it must be applied specifically to the scooter: the “plate” must be positioned on the rear mudguard, if present, or on the steering column.
Insurance costs and obligation
The price of the identification mark, established by the Decree of the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport of 6 October 2025 n. 250, is equal to 8.66 euros (of which 5.03 euros for the production cost, 1.11 euros for VAT and 2.52 euros as the share of the increase allocated to the financed activities). To this sum, however, must be added the stamp duty and motorization fees for each permit requested.
On the page of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, costs for motorization rights are reported at €10.20 and for stamp duty at €16.00. In total, the overall figure is approximately 34.86 euros.
Those who own multiple scooters can optimize costs by submitting a single cumulative application: in this case only one tax is paid, while the sales price and motorization rights remain due.
On the insurance front, however, the insurance obligation for scooters has been postponed by two months, to 16 July 2026. This is because the effectiveness of the insurance obligation is strictly connected to the presence of the mark: the scooters must be able to be uniquely identified before the companies can issue the policies.
The reason for this delay, however, is above all of a technical nature: the National Association of Insurance Companies (ANIA) reported that the IT systems necessary for issuing policies would not be fully operational by 16 May, requiring another 60 days to resolve the problems related to data flows between the Motorisation platform, ANIA’s SITA database and the insurance companies.
Penalties in case of absence of the license plate
For those who do not comply with the obligation to have a sticker or insurance for the scooter, the new Highway Code provides for sanctions from 100 to 400 euros, as established by article 1, paragraph 75-undevicies of Law no. 160/2019.
It should be noted, among other things, 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, as it is a personal mark.
