An appeals commission upheld the cancellation of a driver’s license for drunken use of an electric scooter Thursday.

An office worker’s license was revoked after they were caught using an electric scooter while drunk in April. The worker’s blood alcohol level was above 0.08 percent, the threshold at which drivers lose their licenses.

The person requested an administrative trial to the Central Administrative Judgment Commission of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, claiming that she would not have driven the scooter if she had known that doing so while drunk was subject to punishment.

The commission denied the request, saying that driving an electric scooter after drinking was illegal.

According to the Road Traffic Act, drunk driving of any personal vehicle can be punished with a driving ban.

The commission said it would continue to make strict decisions on drunken use of electronic scooters and similar vehicles, as the number of people using them continues to rise.

According to statistics from the National Police Agency, the number of people punished for riding a bicycle while drunk has increased, recording 597 cases in 2020 and 715 cases in 2021.

The number of people punished for drunkenly using electric scooters and other similar devices has increased rapidly, totaling 2,633 from May to December last year.

“Personal transporters like electric scooters operate near pedestrians, so there is a higher risk of accidents during drunk use. There is an urgent need to establish proper driving habits,” said Min Seong-sim, the director of the administrative trial under the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission.