I was in Paris one time and bought a metro ticket, entered the metro, and tossed the ticket in the trash. I figured that since you don’t need to scan or input the ticket when leaving most metro stops, there wasn’t any point in carrying around the little metro ticket.
Well when I got to my stop, ticket inspectors were there checking. I got a fine and was forced to pay it on the spot in cash. I refused to pay at first because I immediately thought it was a scam, but the workers assured me that it’s legit.
I have lived in the US and Mexico and in both of these countries, you would never pay a fine to the police or some transit worker like this.
Is it common to pay fines on the spot like this in your country? How do you know that the fine is going to the right people and not in someone’s pocket?
28 comments
It depends on the type of fine here, but those public transport fines… for not having a valid ticket, for example.. you can also pay on the spot in my city.
In fact if you pay on the spot or quickly (I think within 5 days) you only pay half.
I’ve never had a fine on the bus here.But I think you can pay the inspectors only by credit card, and they issue you with a receipt.
It’s not common to pay fines on the spot. Usually they get sent to your home address. Maybe there are exceptions for people who don’t live in an EU country but for “regular” people you just pay later.
Absolutelly. Traffic tickets, fines by police, that’s all best paid on the spot if you don’t want to go through lengthy administrative proceedings with the possibility of paying more in some cases and with the bother to go to the municipal administration. That’s just normal thing to do. With public transport tickets, it’s also normal but sometimes it’s better not to do it – for example if you have monthly paid card but forget it at home so you go to pay the fine to the public transport company office with the card as a proof that you didn’t ride for free and the fine is way smaller. And also it doesn’t matter as much as it won’t be any proceedings or higher fine as it’s contractual sanction and not offence according public law. So if you are not sure about the alleged amount you are supposed to pay, it’s also best to do it after in the office. And they have to present the badge and they have to fill the correct form with you and you get a copy.
For small fines it’s possible here too. You don’t have to pay it on the spot, but you can and if you do you save the administration fee. And there’s still documentation about the fine and they give you a receipt.
About fine for not having valid ticket in bus or train- I’d say yes. You may pay it by credit/debit card immediately.
Foreign drivers, especially from outside of the EU, are usually fined on the spot at police checkpoints. This is usually done since there is no way to enforce payment of the fine in f.e. Ukraine or Russia.
Germans and EU citizens usually get a letter and pay via bank transfer, unless they cannot provide ID.
The same goes for ticket inspections in public transport.
> How do you know that the fine is going to the right people and not in someone’s pocket?
You will get a receipt and those are checked and accounted for by the organisation.
Yes, paying on the spot is normal here.
Usually if you pay on the spot it’s 50% of the fine, otherwise you have to pay the full price.
Yes, it’s common.
Same situation as yours happens all the time in Vienna since we also don’t have ticket scanners – you can just walk in. Hence there are ticket inspectors and you’d typically pay them on the spot.
Also traffic stops. I *think* in this case you might even save some money by paying on the spot. I think I remember there being like a 20 Euro extra fee if you pay later but I am not 100% sure. You can pay cash or with card.
Yep. You shouldn’t be forced to pay on the spot, but it’s generally cheaper to do so.
Yes. For example driving fines have a 50% discount if you pay on the spot (not sure about the rest of fines)
Yes, you can pay fines on the spot to the ticket inspectors (train/metro/bus), they take cards. And it’s cheaper that way. You can also pay later online or at the sales office. For RATP on https://pv.ratp.fr/
https://www.ratp.fr/question/quels-sont-les-montants-des-infractions
no ticket= 50 € if you pay on the spot, 65 € if you pay before 20 days, 100 € before 90 days, 180 € after 90 days.
Keep your ticket until you’re out of the metro/bus. You may need it again if your journey includes a segment on the RER (also to exit the RER station) or if a ticket inspector asks for it.
Yes. There is usually also option to pay later tho, but sometimes you might be required to pay more than “on spot” amount. When it comes to tickets from the police (and maybe also from transportation company but not sure about that) there’s also option to appeal but you need a rock solid evidence as if the appeal commission finds the fine to be justified they also tend to increase the fined amount.
That is very uncommon here, maybe not possible at all. There are procedures for foreigners from countries outside the EU, but I have no idea how it is done.
Fines are usually somewhat higher in Denmark and the other Scandinavian countries than in many other countries, e.g. the fine for taking the train or bus without a ticket is 750 DKK / 100 €, and the *minimal* fine for speeding is 1500 DKK / €. So it is not just a trivial amount.
> I was in Paris one time and bought a metro ticket, entered the metro, and tossed the ticket in the trash
Am I the only one who thinks that that’s a super weird thing to do? Wtf did you (not) think?
Paying a fine on the spot goes against pretty much everything that is Swedish. Immediacy is a concept that most Swedes instinctively avoid like the plague and our institutions are built on that principle.
I’m not sure about other entities, but if you are pulled over by the police you usually get the choice to either pay the fine immediately with a debit card, or to have it sent to your home address. I don’t think it’s possible to pay a fine cash.
I’ve never heard of it. From my recollection of being fined you usually have to go to the post office (or online, just spending on the fine). I’ll admit though I’ve not had many fines
For police fines and tickets you can usually pay on the spot and it will often reduce your fine in half. Its like pay half the amount now or full amount later.
For other fines it usually depends on case by case basis. Most will just print you a ticket and can’t accept any payment.
Well as i experienced with drunk people in public transport, a person who are in charge of gathering money call police.
As i know police will not charge money of this person immediately, but will not say about all possible cases.
As for paying debts for household (water usage, heating and so on) its only done by court or notary, which can take months. Same with some other debts, usually court can even make paying debt by installment if judge see that a person cant pay debt fully right now but can pay it gradually.
So some people have a law-determent possibility to gather money like this, but usually it dont happen.
Only traffic fines and bus and train fines. But never in cash, only with a card.
In Spain, normally you pay fines after it happens and by mail but those public transport fines they usually make you pay in that moment. In the underground (in Malaga, at least) the officers takes you with them to the office.
People from abroad are expected to. In the case they can’t they’re driven to an atm. This is to prevent dodging of fines.
A friend of mine was given an on the spot fine for alleged littering in Wigan – tl;dr they couldn’t prove the discarded cigarette butt wasn’t theirs, so…
The fine had to be paid online within 14 days, IIRC it was reduced for paying with a week.
Public transport fines: yes, it’s a bit cheaper, but also possible to pay later
Police fines: no, they get sent to your home address and/or digitally
In Estonia I would 100% consider any on the spot fine a scam or an attempt to get a bribe.
I think we have this is the UK, but just on transport – it’s not criminal fine, it’s more a “really expensive ticket you have to buy on the spot” (normal priced tickets being always bought before you travel)
Depends on the type of fine. But yeah, I had an expired ticket on a tram here in Prague and paid the fine on the spot.
Note for possible tourists: Download Litacka and get your tickets/passes there. So much easier and convenient.
Wait till you drive on motorways in Slovenia without having paid toll online in advance, and you could get a [€300 fine](https://www.reddit.com/r/Slovenia/comments/z47vv4/tujec_šel_čez_mejo_na_avtocesti_brez_vinjete_zej/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button) and if you don’t live in the EU they have the power to confiscate your passport if you don’t pay on the spot (reduced by 50%).