Hungarian man travelled withouth a ticket 760 times, has to spend a year in jail!

A Hungarian man collected a fine worth 35,000 Euros (11 Million Forints) between 2012 and 2016, and now he has to face some pretty serious consequences. He used the services of the Hungarian State Railways (Magyar Államvasutak Zrt. a.k.a. MÁV) without paying for it over 760 times in four years. The judge wants to set a precedent with this case.

A Hungarian man travelled without a valid ticket over 760 times on the railway line between Nagykáta and Budapest, Iho.hu reports. He was asked to get off the trains multiple times, but he always managed to get back on them.

His continuous violations over the years added up to a nice round amount of 35,000 Euros (11 Million Forints). The man was not willing to pay anything, so MÁV decided to sue him.

The verdict is in: the man has to spend one year in jail. He is also prohibited from participating in any kind of public affairs (including voting, for example) for three years. On top of all these, he still has to pay a EUR 2,750 (HUF 870,000) fine to the Hungarian State Railways (MÁV).

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The man was committed with fraud charges. The defendant cannot opt for probation. However, he has the right to lodge an appeal. The defence asked for three days to think.

With his case, the court wanted to set an example. The judge wants to emphasise how serious the issue is, and aims to discourage future violations.

Iho.hu also reports that the national railway corporation issues fines more than 187,000 times a year, which add up to 1.5 Million Euros (500 Million Forints) in one year.

Violations are most common on the following lines:

• Budapest-Miskolc (1136 violations)
• Budapest-Szolnok (885 violations)
• Budapest-Debrecen (733 violations)

Even though the number of violations seems pretty high, a decline can be observed since 2016: there were 45,000 violations in 2016, and “only” 36,000 violations in 2017.

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Luckily, there is rarely a need to involve the police in these matters (less than 1% of the time). If the police have to be involved, it can result in serious delays (over 1,000 minute-delays).

Featured image: MTI

Source: www.iho.hu