No more discounted fares for those traveling without tickets. The city wants to recover PLN 41 million by entering free riders into the debtors’ register.
The Public Transport Authority in Krakow is waiting for PLN 41 million of unpaid fines and, since March, has been entering people who do not validate tickets in the BIG InfoMonitor Register of Debtors. Currently, there are almost 100,000 in areas across the country due to unpaid fines. Poles, their debts amount to PLN 141 million. Krakow followed the example of Warsaw, which thanks to the 61,000 PLN, in 2 months we managed to recover over 600 thousand PLN – even before publishing the cases in the debtor’s database.
It is getting harder and harder to remain an unpunished free rider. With a view to reporting people who do not buy tickets and then do not pay the penalty fee, other cities sign an agreement with the BIG InfoMonitor register of debtors. They have already done so Warsaw, Łódź, Rzeszów, Lublin, Białystok, Płock, Radom, Gdańsk, Olsztyn, Częstochowa, Katowice and other cities of the Upper Silesian-Zagłębie Metropolis, and from March also Krakow joined.
– Thanks to the requests for payment sent in December to the capital free riders, ZTM Warszawa has already recovered 633 thousand. PLN receivables even before the case is made public in the register. After being added to the list of debtors, the impact of the register increases even more. Debtors wishing to obtain financing, installment purchases or signing a subscription agreement usually strive to delete the entry and contact the creditor – says Łukasz Rączkowski, BIG InfoMonitor expert.
Transport is more expensive and savings on the ticket are tempting
The pandemic has reduced the number of passengers, and rising fuel prices and wages have hit urban transport companies hard. In Krakow, where in 2019 ticket revenues covered 53 percent. of the total costs of functioning of public transport, in 2020 it was only 38 percent. In 2021, it improved a bit, tickets were financed by 41%. ZTP costs.
– But it’s still far from expected. The situation is difficult, but we do not want to completely pass the cost increase only to passengers who buy tickets, hence the decision to report people who want to travel for free to the register of debtors. We hope that the information on this subject will act preventively and will translate into a decrease in the number of free riders in our buses and trams – says Magdalena Musiał, Deputy Director for Organization and Supervision of the Public Transport Authority in Krakow.
The problem of free-riding, whether by public transport or rail, and then avoiding paying penalties on this account is quite big in Poland. According to the data of the BIG InfoMonitor Debtors Register, over 99,000 For free riders from all over the country, almost PLN 141 million has to be repaid for free-riding. In financially difficult times, there may be more debtors, because, as Poles declare, when there are problems with money and there is a shortage of life, the first thought is to postpone the settlement of cable TV subscriptions, then the telephone and internet bills, and third place for possible fees related to the purchase of tickets for journeys. This idea is shared by 23 percent. respondents. And this shows that traveling without a ticket in the minds of people using passenger transport services is one of the ways to save money.
Ticket to register
However, the savings may turn out to be questionable. For example, in Krakow, the basic additional fare for traveling without a valid ticket is PLN 240, and in the case of reduced fare, the penalty fee is PLN 160. If the free rider does not pay the penalty within 30 days from the designated deadline, the carrier may enter it in the register of debtors kept by BIG. The condition is the arrears of min. PLN 200 and sending a request for payment with information about the planned entry on the list of BIG debtors.
– We intend to report to the BIG InfoMonitor Debtors Register people who will not pay fees for the lack of a public transport ticket. Annually, it may be about 30 thousand. receivables. At the end of January, we had to enforce over 133,000. additional fees worth nearly PLN 41 million. The record holder has over 55.4 thousand to be repaid. PLN – says Magdalena Musiał.
Practice shows that some people pay off arrears already when they learn that they can be entered in the register, others ignore their presence in the register until it begins to disturb them, for example, in taking out a loan, purchasing a telecommunications subscription or signing a cable TV contract.
– The mere announcement that information about the debt will be added to the register causes some to pay off the liability immediately after receiving the summons. They do not want to be entered, because such information, which is almost publicly available, reduces the payer’s credibility and may take away the opportunity for credits, loans or purchases. Before establishing cooperation, banks, loan companies, telecommunications service providers and contractors verify a potential client in BIG, both consumers and companies. In addition, data on debts appearing in BIG InfoMonitor also appear on most BIK reports downloaded by banks when verifying the customer’s credit history – explains Łukasz Rączkowski.
Cities are mobilizing, and so are debtors
According to the data collected in the BIG InfoMonitor Register of Debtors, in January this year the number of debtors-free riders exceeded 99,000, together they have almost PLN 141 million in arrears to be repaid. Compared to last year, almost 44.5 thousand were lost. free riders, and the arrears decreased by almost PLN 53 million. There were several reasons. Pandemic, remote work, remote learning, fewer opportunities for spending and COVID-19-related financial concerns made passenger transport less used, but many people who had all sorts of arrears used the time of the coronavirus to put their financial situation in order and “opted out” of the debtors’ register paying off debts. From the time of the pandemic to the end of January this year. the number of debtors in BIG InfoMonitor decreased by 112 thousand. to 2.13 million people, and the sum of arrears by over PLN 3.5 billion to 39,
– The aim of the cooperation between the Public Transport Authority in Krakow and the BIG InfoMonitor Debtors Register is to motivate passengers to travel honestly, so that others do not lose on the so-called “free riders”. The more people buy tickets, the higher the share of ticket revenues in financing public transport and the chance of avoiding fare increases. The more so because the transport offer has been made more attractive, and the operating costs of ZTP have increased – says Magdalena Musiał. – We also hope that cooperation with BIG will allow us to collect amounts due from dishonest passengers. People who end up in the debtors’ register will sooner or later stumble over this arrears on their way to a loan or subscription contract with a telecommunications company and will have to choose to pay off the arrears and implement plans, or give them up – he adds.
Most stowaways in Mazovia
Currently, the largest number of free riders in the BIG InfoMonitor Debtors Register comes from Mazovia. At the end of January, their number amounted to almost 20,000, and the total debt exceeded PLN 34.5 million. Next in line is Silesia and the province. Lodzkie. The inhabitants of Podkarpacie and Podlasie have the lowest arrears. At the same time, Podlasie has the highest average arrears per person – PLN 1,947, which would indicate that those who travel without a ticket do it often.
Source – Gazeta Krakowska
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