The Brisbane City Council has revoked the operating licence of Singaporean electric mobility startup Beam amid allegations it defrauded local governments by exceeding the number of e-scooters and bikes it is permitted to deploy.
According to media reports, the Brisbane city council found that Beam failed to report all hireable devices on 222,975 occasions between 21 July 2023 and 22 July 2024, costing it an estimated $330,000 in lost revenue. It has said it will refer the e-mobility firm to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).
Brisbane follows New Zealand’s Auckland and Wellington in cancelling Beam’s licence. Auckland cancelled its licence with Beam on August 27, while the licence suspension order from Wellington came into effect on midnight, August 30.
On August 28, the Wellington City Council received an audit report from Ride Report confirming that between July 26, 2023, and June 21, 2024, Beam exceeded its e-scooter cap by an average daily maximum of 100 e-scooters, with a peak of 185 e-scooters. This, it said, constitutes a breach of the company’s licence.
“Wellington City elected members set a cap on the number of e-scooters that could be deployed at any time to ensure a balance between having enough devices to meet demand while reducing the risk to pedestrians of footpath clutter. As such, we cannot continue to have Beam operate while we continue our analysis of what has happened,” said Wellington City Council’s Chief Planning Officer Liam Hodgetts in a statement.
Beam, which counts Affirma Capital and Peak XV Partners among its investors, is being scrutinised by at least five local governments in Brisbane, Auckland and Canberra, according to The Weekend Australian.
To legally operate in a city, e-scooter companies are required to pay registration fees for each vehicle or a percentage of the fares collected from riders. According to a report by The Weekend Australian, Beam allegedly exceeded the scooter cap by up to 30% in some areas, potentially costing local governments thousands of dollars per day in lost revenue.
“We strongly reject the characterisations of our vehicle management and believe there has been a rush to judgement based on selectively leaked correspondence,” a Beam spokesperson said in an email statement.
“We disagree that there were systemic issues of under reporting,” the spokesperson added. “The program of concern is applicable to only a limited number of jurisdictions in Australia and New Zealand.”
The firm said it is working on a full and thorough investigation through a legal firm, which will lead the audit of its data and governance practices.
Founded in 2018 by Alan Jiang, Beam operates in more than 60 cities globally and has a significant presence in Australia and New Zealand.
