Unpaid Budapest parking tickets to expire after a year

Starting Thursday, Hungarian courts will drop cases on parking fees due for over 12 months and cannot launch new cases on fees overdue for more than a year. According to privatbankar.hu, the Hungarian Automobile Club (MAK) has welcomed the law amendment passed on June 9 which made this possible, though it believes the decision came too late. Meanwhile, debt collector Credit Express plans to challenge the law before the Constitutional Court.

Lawyer Kázmér Kovács, chairman of the MAK's legal and interest protection committee, said the problem has arisen that drivers are being summoned to court to present proof of payment for late parking fees paid years ago. In most cases, drivers no longer have this receipt. The new law says that the parking company can turn to a court only within 12 months of the original parking violation. Kázmér said the amendment to the law is late, but better than never. He stressed that the new law not only frees drivers from the obligation of keeping their receipts for several years, but also allows courts currently dealing with hundreds of thousands of parking-related cases to "breathe again."

Meanwhile, Gábor Tóth, a representative of debt collectors Credit Express and former attorney of parking company Centrum Parkoló Rendszer Kft, said the companies will turn to the Constitution Court to ask for an opinion on whether or not the amendment is constitutional. He said nobody is trying to deliberately delay processes, as drivers are informed within 60 days if they owe a parking company.

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