Wandsworth rolls out e-bike Fair Use Charter and urges residents to report blocked pavements
Published: Wednesday, October 14, 2026
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The Charter aims to hold operators to account for their hire e-bikes and scooters in Wandsworth, taking action against bad parking and riding dangerously on pavements.
A new operational team is now patrolling the borough to support compliance with the Charter by monitoring known hotspots and removing bikes that are badly parked.
The Fair Use Charter also encourages residents to report obstructive e-bikes in Wandsworth. As part of a concerted effort to tackle the issue together, we want residents to report e-bikes parked badly, blocking pavements, roads and public spaces.
The new Charter comes as the popularity of hire e-bikes continues to rise across the borough, with eight million journeys taken in the borough in 2025 and journeys expected to exceed 10 million this year.
While the schemes have helped many people get around quickly and easily without using cars, residents have also raised concerns with the council about poorly parked bikes blocking pavements, causing problems for wheelchair users, people with buggies and residents with reduced mobility.
Cllr Nick Austin, Cabinet Member for Transport, said: "E-bikes provide a convenient and flexible travel option for many people and are obviously here to stay, but residents are rightly frustrated with bikes blocking our pavements and roads.
“Our new Fair Use Charter stands up for residents and their need for safe pavements and public spaces. It is designed to set clear expectations for operators, ensuring they manage their bikes and scooters better, and respond quickly when issues arise. The Charter also gives the Council stronger powers to take enforcement action and make operators pay.”
Under the new Fair Use Charter, e-bike companies will have to:
- remove dangerous or obstructive bikes within two hours of a report
- make no-parking, no-go and go-slow zones clear in-app
- stop riders parking in banned areas
- move bikes quickly to prevent clutter in busy spots.
The Charter sets a tougher, fairer deal with e-bike operators and ensures the Council can:
- remove and impound bikes that operators fail to clear within two hours
- make operators pay when they fail to act
- require operators to monitor and control illegal and dangerous cycling on hired e-bikes
- publish monthly data on usage, complaints, penalties and fines.
The Council will be reviewing and monitoring progress and will make amendments to the Charter where necessary, as well as renewing and amending legal agreements with operators.
The Council will also be increasing the number of e-bike parking bays and expanding some bays in busy spots to ensure parked bikes are left within the allocated space.
How to report it
If you spot an e-bike that is parked dangerously or obstructing the pavement, you can report it directly via the e-bike operator’s app or website, or on the Council's website.
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