The scooter rental company "Ride Mobility" ("Ride") has appealed the decision of the Consumer Rights Protection Center (CRPC), which imposed a fine of 10,000 euros on the company.
The company Ride gained sad notoriety after two girls were hit by a train while riding its scooter in Riga. They could not be saved.
The company violated rules prohibiting the use of scooters by children who have not reached a certain age. Instead of repenting, the owners of Ride decided to sue.
According to data from Firmas.lv, SIA "Ride" was registered in 2019, with a share capital of 2,800 euros. The company is fully owned by Edgars Jakobsons. In 2024, "Ride" operated with a turnover of 1.156 million euros and a profit of 236,246 euros. This year, Jakobsons ran for the Marupe council from the list of the "Jaunā Vienotība" (New Unity) party.
Politician-businessman Jakobsons is trying to shift the problem from a sick head to a healthy one. In a conversation with LETA, Jakobsons stated that the company pays special attention to safety issues, which are grossly ignored by some operators, especially the company "Bolt." Despite the fact that a unified system for verifying the identity and age of users has not yet been implemented, the Consumer Rights Protection Center (CRPC), according to him, does not oppose this situation. He added that this creates an obvious inequality between companies.
It was previously reported that the CRPC imposed a fine of 10,000 euros on "Ride" for failing to comply with the requirement to cease providing potentially unsafe services by October 2 until further notice.
At the same time, the CRPC noted that after the tragedy, the main safety risk has been eliminated — the service is no longer available to children. It also urged other micromobility operators to implement reliable age verification methods as soon as possible.
