Overview
- The Higher Administrative Court of Berlin-Brandenburg issued a final, non-appealable ruling requiring Nextbike to take roughly 6,500 rental bicycles off city streets.
- Berlin’s transport authority had ordered the removal in summer 2025 after Nextbike continued operating without a special-use permit once its public contract expired on June 30, 2025.
- Judges cited the scale of the free-floating fleet and reports that bikes were often left in ways that impeded pedestrians and other traffic, classifying the operation as a regulated special use.
- Nextbike now says it will apply for a permit, keep service running citywide, and cut its fleet to about 5,500, while urging fee treatment that reflects the public benefit of pedal bikes.
- Officials note other sharing firms operate with permits that carry fees reported at three euros per bike per month within the S-Bahn ring, and the timing of any removals remains unclear.