E-bike operator vows to continue in London borough where council awarded contracts to rivals

Voi has said it thinks there is no legal obstacle to operating dockless bikes on the public highway even without a council contract to do so.

It also argued that Ealing’s procurement exercise was improperly conducted.

A Voi spokesperson said: “Voi raised concerns about how this process was being run in writing, before any decision was made - not after learning the outcome.”

The company said Ealing ran a ‘mini-procurement’ exercise, “without published scoring or clear criteria, [which] wasn’t a robust basis for excluding any operator from the borough”. 

Voi proposed a system where every provider active at scale in London can run bikes into Ealing and claimed to be the only one sharing live data with the council under its previous procurement.

The spokesperson said: “There is no statutory licensing regime that requires a council's permission to operate dockless e-bikes on the public highway, and we do not believe that the selection process used gives the council grounds to exclude a compliant operator.”

They added: “That said, we'd much rather be operating in Ealing under a formal agreement - it would give officers greater oversight and it’s better for the borough's finances - and we've told the council that directly.

“We remain open to resolving this constructively, but have written to the council three times with detailed concerns about this process that have not been acknowledged.

“In the absence of a formal agreement, we will operate in Ealing in accordance with the borough’s own e-bike enforcement procedure.” 

An Ealing spokesperson said “The council has followed a process of agreeing Memoranda of Understanding with e-bike operators, in line with a majority of London boroughs. 

“Until the Devolution Bill enables local licensing of e-bike schemes, boroughs are continuing with established arrangements, and awaiting the proposed pan-London contract to be operated by TfL. 

"We cannot comment further as we are in live legal discussions with operators."

Mark Smulian