Budapest public transport company proposes doubling fines

Budapest's mass transport operator BKV Zrt has proposed drastically raising fines for passengers traveling without a valid ticket or pass - in some cases, threefold - from the beginning of next month, writes stop.hu.

BKV CEO Attila Antal said that based on studies conducted by the company, the current fines are not effective, as it is worth paying a fine a couple of times a month rather than buying a pass.

A passenger traveling on BKV vehicles meets a ticket inspector on average every 29th journey. The current fine is roughly the price of 11 single tickets, which means the passenger does not have to pay for the other 18 journeys, even if they are caught traveling without a ticket.

BKV calculates that 718 more ticket inspectors would need to be employed in order to collect all revenues the company is entitled to if the fines were not raised, or the Ft 2,500 (€10) fine raised to Ft 12,000 (roughly €50). Such a large raise cannot be introduced in Budapest due to the level of Hungarian wages, but the fines will be raised.

Antal said that as a first step, the Ft 2,500 on-the spot fine will be raised to Ft 5,000 (€20). The fine payable by passengers who pay it within 30 days will be raised from Ft 7,500 to Ft 10,000 (€40), while it will be raised from Ft 15,000 to Ft 20,000 (€80) for those who fail to pay within 30 days.

The fine payable by passengers who forget their passes at home and show them at a later date will be raised the most, from Ft 750 to Ft 2,500 (€10).

The Budapest Assembly (Fővárosi Közgyűlés) will make a final decision on the matter on April 26.

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