TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Directorate General of Highways (DGH) said on Thursday (Nov. 24) it will exempt owners of existing e-bikes from paying the NT$450 (US$14.40) fee if they get license plates before the end of next year.

Amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act recently passed by Taiwan’s legislature require all e-bikes, now officially called mini-electric two-wheel vehicles, to have license plates and carry compulsory vehicle liability insurance, starting from Nov. 30. However, the DGH allows mini electric two-wheel vehicles currently in use to have license plates installed in two years.

The DGH said the exemption of the NT$300 (US$9.60) license plate fee and the NT$150 vehicle license fee is to encourage owners of the 250,000 existing mini-electric, two-wheel vehicles in the country to get their vehicles registered for license plates early, CNA reported.

The highway authority said that there were around 5,800 accidents involving mini-electric two-wheel vehicles in Taiwan in the first eight months of this year, resulting in 33 deaths, which compared to around 4,900 accidents in the same period last year.

A mini electric two-wheel vehicle that has a maximum speed of 25 kph or less, and weighs 40 kg without a battery or 60 kg including a battery, falls into the category of slow-moving vehicles, and a license plate and compulsory vehicle liability insurance is not required, DGH said.

A plethora of problems involving e-bikes have arisen over the years, ranging from vehicle modifications, speeding, and increases in traffic accidents, to owners being unable to pay damages to settle claims for accidents, so it is necessary to strengthen the management of the vehicles, the DGH added.