The Consumer Rights Protection Centre (CRPC) imposed a fine of €10,000 on the operator of the electric moped rental service "Ride Mobility" (Ride) for failing to comply with the CRPC's requirement from October 2 to cease providing an unsafe service until further notice, the CRPC reported to LETA.
At the same time, the Consumer Rights Protection Centre notes that during this period, "Ride" took corrective measures by implementing a process for verifying the identity and age of individuals, which was agreed upon with the Centre on October 24.
The Centre states that the verification occurs through a digital tool and includes reading documents, comparing them with a selfie of the client, as well as determining age based on the date of birth indicated in the document.
The Director of the Centre, Zaiga Liepiņa, notes that the most significant security risk has been eliminated, as the service is no longer available to children. At the same time, she urges other providers of micro-mobility rental services to implement reliable age verification methods as soon as possible, which the Centre will monitor.
The Centre also reports that the European Commission is currently working on creating an age verification application.
Currently, there is a lack of proper age verification in Latvia before accessing digital content and services. According to the Centre, self-declaration, where the user indicates whether they are 18 years old or not, is not a sufficient tool for age verification.
An age verification application across the EU would resolve a significant portion of the issues related to minors accessing inappropriate content and services.
As reported, on October 24 of this year, the Centre approved an additional solution introduced by "Ride" for monitoring customer age and allowed the company to continue providing the service.
Previously, the Centre decided to suspend "Ride" services after an accident in which two underage girls died while crossing tracks on an electric moped.
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