From 3 November it will be possible to apply for the mobility bonus, equal to 60 per cent of spending on the purchase of bicycles and scooters, as provided for by the Rilancio decree.
Whatever happened to the mobility bonus? The answer is that the countdown has officially begun: on 3 November, everyone who in recent months has purchased a bicycle — traditional or electric-assisted — or a scooter will finally be able to claim the refund provided for by the so-called Rilancio decree, adopted by the Council of Ministers on 4 May and published in the Official Gazette on 19 May.
The bonus provides that anyone living in a regional capital, a metropolitan city (including the surrounding municipalities that form part of it), a provincial capital, or in a municipality with a population of more than 50,000 inhabitants may benefit from a mobility bonus. It is valid for the purchase, from 4 May onwards, of a bicycle, including electric-assisted models, or other small electric vehicles such as scooters. And it is equal to 60 per cent of the expenditure incurred, up to a maximum of 500 euros: for example, for the purchase of a bicycle costing 500 euros the bonus will be 300 euros; but for a vehicle costing one thousand euros the bonus will nonetheless stop at the maximum threshold, which has been set at 500 euros.
The measure provided for two distinct phases for the incentive: in the first, citizens purchased the vehicle at full price and then submitted a refund request through the dedicated portal created by the Ministry of Transport. In the second phase, instead, buyers will be able to purchase directly at a discounted price, once the fund has been activated. In the meantime, the fund has been almost doubled, from 120 to 210 million euros. This allocation is partly financed by the revenues from the market in CO2 emission allowances: since 2013, European companies have been required to purchase, by way of compensation, a percentage share of the CO2 emissions they produce through their activities, in accordance with the "polluter pays" principle.
Timelines have therefore stretched somewhat beyond the two months provided for by the decree for the full implementation of the fund and the portal, something that Environment Minister Sergio Costa himself acknowledged: "I won't deny that there were some administrative hitches, which we nonetheless overcame by working at full speed throughout the month of August."
On 3 November, the 60-day period (which began on 5 September, with the publication in the Official Gazette) granted to the company tasked with completing the web portal will in any case expire: from that day, anyone who has purchased a bicycle or scooter at full price will be able to submit a refund application. A procedure for which, the minister notes, two things are required: "The purchase invoice (or alternatively the itemised receipt) and a personal SPID," meaning the online identification system. Meanwhile, for those who make a purchase after 3 November, as mentioned, it will be possible to buy directly at a reduced price.
