Out-of-contract e-bike firm refuses to quit Ealing

E-bike rental company Voi has vowed to continue operating in a west London borough, despite losing out on a local authority contract to rival providers.

Voi began a dockless e-bike trial in Ealing in May 2025, operating alongside Lime. But earlier this year, Ealing Council awarded new contracts to Lime and Forest, expecting Voi to leave the borough.

Voi argued it had performed well in the borough and there were no legal grounds to exclude it.

Ealing Council said contracts were made with Lime and Forest through a local authority Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), "in line with a majority of London boroughs".

Voi continues to operate in Ealing without paying fees to the council, which are paid by Forest and Lime. Voi also uses e-bike parking spaces meant for the other providers.

Voi said it did not agree with the handling of the MoU process at Ealing, accusing it of running a "mini-procurement" exercise.

The firm said the council made the deal without publishing performance data or clear criteria, which it said was not a robust basis for excluding any operator from the borough.

MoUs - widely used by councils to draw up agreements with third parties - typically set out the terms of a deal.

However, they are not legally binding.

A spokesperson for Voi told the LDRS: "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.

"Neither, within this context, do we believe it to be fair to Ealing residents that Voi's removal would deprive them of the cheapest per-minute dockless e-bike rental service in London.

"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."

Voi added that while it remained "open to resolving this constructively", it would operate in Ealing under the borough's own e-bike enforcement procedure.

Ealing Council said it was awaiting a pan-London policy on e-bike hire schemes to be introduced by Transport for London.

A spokesperson added: "The council adopted its e-bike enforcement policy in February 2026 and is taking action in line with this procedure, including issuing fines and sanctions for obstructions of the public highway.

"We cannot comment on live discussions taking place with any operators."

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