Budapest fare dodgers may be put on bank credit blacklist

If a tender called by Budapest Transport Company BKV for collecting unpaid fines is won by a collection agency owned by a bank, those who have outstanding debts to the BKV may end up being included on the so-called "BAR list" (Inter-bank Debtor and Credit Information System; Bankközi Adós- és Hitelinformációs Rendszer), according to daily Népszabadság. This would damage their chances of taking up loans and mortgages in the future.

This is, however, unlikely, in the opinion of bankers, writes klubradio.hu. The experts say that banks are looking to dispose of their own debtors and would not be open to the idea of taking on new risk. The fact that someone refuses to pay a fine, often on principle, indicates they are unreliable debtors.

More than one and half million people have not paid BKV fines, running up a total debt of Ft 15 billion (roughly €60 million).

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