I was caught and i paid fine to BKV

Actually it's true, you need a photo ID if you buy a monthly pass. Since they can't understand foreigners, they don't care about what they say... and remember, no warnings. Sadly the only thing they think about is money. Just be prepared, you'll hear stories like yours. (And even worse!)
Feel free to ask me if you get another problem like this.
Hope I helped...
Viv

vivienne wrote:

Actually it's true, you need a photo ID if you buy a monthly pass. Since they can't understand foreigners, they don't care about what they say... and remember, no warnings. Sadly the only thing they think about is money. Just be prepared, you'll hear stories like yours. (And even worse!)
Feel free to ask me if you get another problem like this.
Hope I helped...
Viv

Thank you very much for your help Vivienne. I will PM you if I need any help.

Do you not carry your passport anyway? I always try to remember to take my passport everywhere as you can be required to produce  photo ID at any time by a Police officer. Us Brits don't have ID cards so a passport is accepted instead.

fidobsa wrote:

Do you not carry your passport anyway? I always try to remember to take my passport everywhere as you can be required to produce  photo ID at any time by a Police officer. Us Brits don't have ID cards so a passport is accepted instead.

Thanks. I showed them residence permit instead of passport. Ok for them I guess.

Yes, to use a monthly pass you must also have the little "BKV-ID" made.
I thought they made them everywhere, just take a passport-sized photo.
It only has your photo though, no data at all. The Hungarian name is "Berletigazolvany".


Having a regular photo ID with you is socialist heritage, you always had to carry your papers to prove you were not an imperialist spy.
(as if we had had anything innovative to spy on at the time, not just botched copies of outdated western technology :-) )

It remained in effect, and policemen actually ask for "your papers, citizen" just to show who's boss.
(as if they had any means of determining the validity of a freshly forged ID from any of the freshly minted countries around us, all with significant Hungarian population, I'm sure anyone up to no good can print a plausible-looking Czech or Macedonian ID.)

szocske wrote:

as if they had any means of determining the validity of a freshly forged ID

Actually, they do for official documents like national ID cards and passports. The digital, networked world makes hiding identity to authorities difficult if they really want to know who you are.

Even the police here in the countryside now have all sorts of wireless network tools, both in their patrol cars and more recently as hand held devices, to check ID legitimacy and to see if you are who you say you are.

And if the police stop you "with cause" (loosely defined) even in the capitalistic US, you will also be asked for ID.

Oddly enough, the student pass does not require the photo-booth picture.  At least, they never asked for it when I purchase it.  I have been "carded" many times, and my pass, along with my student card (which does have a photo) is fine.  My boyfriend, on the other hand, pays full price, and has the photo attached in a special metro pass wallet.  Just when you think you know how Hungary works!

The very first time I got checked was the ONE day I left my wallet on my desk at home.  I turned right around to get it, and was going to look out for the inspectors and flee if need be, but I was on my phone, writing a text to my professor that I would be late for class.  Of course that's when one actually approached me!  I tried to explain myself in English, she gave me a quizzical look, checked my passport (which I always carry), and miraculously let me off the hook!!!  That was when the fine was only 6000 HUF.  Since it went to 16000, I triple check every time I leave the house, and have a few loose tickets in every backpack, pocket, purse, or wallet I own!

But that's a one-of-a-kind story.  Never take the chance!

Yes, the student ID substitutes the photo-sleeve ID thingy.
The student ID must have the validity stickers on the back though!
Make sure to get it every semester at your school!

If you do have a monthly pass at home and get fined, you can pay a reduced fine by showing it at the Akacfa street BKV office.

What sort of ID will they accept then, or does it have to be a passport? Will a visa card, foreign drivers licence or ISIC-card be accepted? I'm a bit sceptical about carrying my passport around. I loose things.

Strange, we buy monthly tickets and we haven't had any advice on the BKV photo ID! I got asked for ID for the first time the other day and showed my residence permit, which they accepted... I only just got it and I had stopped carrying my passport around with me too! Lucky!

I wouldn't know how to ask for the photo ID thing, I just go to the ticket office and ask for a new monthly pass (I show them the old one)
Hmmm...

You have to ask for a bkv photo id
http://bkv.hu/hu/berletigazolvany_kiall … igazolvany

It costs 250HUF and valid for 10 years.
you have to bring a picture with you (3.5 x 4.5 cm ). You can buy it where you bought the monthly pass.

It's funny, that the english version of BKV site does not contains anything about this

Entity wrote:

You have to ask for a bkv photo id
http://bkv.hu/hu/berletigazolvany_kiall … igazolvany

It costs 250HUF and valid for 10 years.
you have to bring a picture with you (3.5 x 4.5 cm ). You can buy it where you bought the monthly pass.

It's funny, that the english version of BKV site does not contains anything about this

Thanks, I might have to get one just in case...!

Hi all

I am travelling to Budapest on Sunday for four weeks to study a CELTA course and am wanting to buy the monthly travel pass. Whereabouts do I buy one from? Also, should I worry about making sure I get a photo ID as I speak no Hungarian and have read a few stories about people not getting one with their pass despite it seeming to be mandatory

Hello,

Well u can expect, that the cashier will not speak any foreign language. I recommend you to write the following sentences to a paper and give it to the cashier:

Jó napot!

Egy mai naptól érvényes felnőtt havi bérletet és egy bérlet igazolványt szeretnék vásárolni.

Köszönöm!



The price should be 9800HUF for the monthly pass and 250 HUF for the BKV ID. Bring an ID photo with you (3.5 x 4.5 cm ).

You can find the selling points in this url:
bkv.hu/en/opening_hours_of_ticket_offices/opening_hours_of_ticket_offices

Regards,
Andras

Hi Entity

That's great, thank you!

Roughly, what does it translate to? Does it discourage any questions back to me in Hungarian?

Luckily there is a selling point right next to where I will be studying so I will try to sort it first thing Monday morning.

Yorkshireman

Hello,

It translates something like that:
-----
Good Day,

I would like to buy an adult monthly pass which valid from today and a bkv id.

Thank you!
-----

You can check it in google translator.

Thanks entity!

I will take a copy of this note to save any initial confusion

Keep these points in mind:

1. Your monthly pass is not valid if you dont have photo ID. This is what i was told by BKV at the counter, when i paid fine.

2. Making photo ID is easy. Once you make it is valid for 10 yrs. just go to photo booth machine, insert about 750 forint and you will get 4 photos printed. Take it to the BKV counter kassa (any metro station), give it to them along with your monthly pass, they will cut the photo and do it for you. The charge is HUF 250.- and thats all. You have to write the photo ID number in the monthly pass. Tie both photo id and monthly pass and carry it with you all the time.

I hope i have made it clear.

I have boycotted BKV for the past 2 years.
Have had to ride just a handful of times in the 2 years due to some knee issues.
I bought 10 tickets over a year ago and still have 5 tickets left.
We had a terrible experience with BKV 2 years back.
My husband is Hungarian but has lived away for many years.
We are now seniors who have moved to Budapest to retire.
We have since bought a car for long trips and I walk almost everywhere within the city all to avoid BKV at all costs.
What happened was we both bought a monthly pass, all was in order, picture ID, everything was great.
We decided to take the bus to Ashaun in Budaors.
We got on a bus, then transferred to another bus that went right to the store in Budaors.
We did not know that we had crossed out of the Budapest city limits by one stop. The bus was not painted any sort of special way and there was no announcement over the PA to inform us that we needed another ticket for the short ride to Budaors.
The bus was crowed so my husband and I were not sitting together.
At the stop in Budaors before anyone could exit the bus 2 very rough toothless loud female ticket agents made everyone show their tickets or pass.
I was ok, showed them my pass and was ready to depart the bus.
They both started literally screaming at me in very broken English that I was going to jail, the police were coming etc.
I was to pay on the spot for my mistake of entering their town without the proper ticket in hand.
I was willing to pay for another ticket if anyone had informed us beforehand that we needed one.
I called my husband over and the 2 women were all over him, yelling, screaming and being really rude.
They now demanded 12,000 forints for the 2 of us up front or the police were coming out. My husband has a bad heart and didn't wish to have a stroke over this so he paid them and told them exactly what he thought of their town and of them in Hungarian.He is not used to the rough style that is the norm here.
After we got off the bus a local women told us that they were suppose to offer to sell us a ticket for around 75 cents.
They took advantage of us not knowing the system.
We went into the consumer advocate agency here, they were outraged by the treatment we received by BKV and told
us to write the head of BKV and explain what happened to us.
We got a letter several months later from BKV stating that we may of had a good case but we had forfeited it because we had admitted guilt by paying the fine of 12,000 forints.
Now as my husband is over age 65 and can ride for free, I often send him alone on the bus if taking the car out is any trouble.
I will never buy another monthly pass for services from BKV in principle that they hire such low class rude ticket agents who seem to make a bonus from the amount of tickets they give.
It isn't about the money but the way they treat people that has made me boycott them.
BKV lost out in over $1,200 per year for the 2 of us. It would of been more to their benefit to have just been nice and charge us the $1.50, 75 cents each for our mistake. No reason to shout, scream and make insane threats to 2 old people who obviously had just made a small  mistake due to BKV not providing the proper information about tickets and crossing while staying on the same bus line.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

We got a letter several months later from BKV stating that we may of had a good case but we had forfeited it because we had admitted guilt by paying the fine of 12,000 forints.

Unfortunately, bullying is not uncommon in Hungary. Especially by government officials and businesses. What BKV said was irrelevant. They were trying to bully you into not pursing the matter. Only a court can make they type of claim they are making, and I would expect a court would agree with you, not BKV.

For what it is worth, when I am bullied in Hungary, I have discovered what the bully is claiming while trying to bully me is often wrong, false or an out right a lie (i.e. the police will not arrest you for underpaying a bus fair by one stop). Believe nothing you hear, and only half of what you see.

Now, when someone starts to bully me here, I bully back. If they claim the police will come, I say "yes, lets get the police here". You will be surprised how quickly many times they will back down. And if they don't, and the police do come, this is to your advantage as well, as you have a right, under Hungarian law, to take a protocol of the event, which means you get to state what happens and this goes into the police record which will benefit your case if you decide go to trial. Knowing your rights empowers you.

And I find that the elderly are sometimes bullied more than any other group, as the elderly are seen as weak and defenseless. A very sad state of affairs to be blunt.

Anyway, those are my 2 cents worth of opinion on this matter.

Thank you for the advice on bullying here in Hungary.
In the past 2 years I can hardly believe how "tough" I have become just to be left in peace.
Thinking of moving from here in the near future, seems the city has no room for older people and the countryside is a bit too strange for a non Hungarian speaking older person.
My husband has been gone from here for 40 plus years and even he finds that the everyday people on the street have become very rude and have lost the respect they used to have here for each other.
If this is progress then something is very wrong.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

the everyday people on the street have become very rude and have lost the respect they used to have here for each other.
If this is progress then something is very wrong.

It varies from place to place, but I find this to be a growing global phenomenon. Too many people today place importance of self over importance of good society.

Negatory good buddy! As you put it in the "capitalistic US" you actually DON'T have to have an ID if you are a citizen. If you are a "foreigner" the same rules apply as here in Hungary. Passport, residence card etc., is required. So stop your anti-American ranting! I know what I'm talking about I was a cop there for 24 years!

Greetings, sorry about your experience! Unfortunately in Hungary there are legitimate "money making schemes" and you fell in one of them. The other is "speeding" traps where you get pegged by radar/laser and the bill comes in the mail. In Hungary it is an "administrative" action not like in may other countries and what this means that for all practical purposes you can't argue the ticket in court. Question the officer, check the radar's papers/tuning or the officers qualification, etc. Here a cat masquerading as a radar/laser operator can clock you and the ticket stands. Usually there is no appeal process alas the Communist years. Hungarians are just not set up for that. Cops here even take great thrill fining another cop something 20 years ago would of been unthinkable. I guess they call it "progress"! Incidentally parking is another. Like in district VII they will booth your car sometimes within 3 minutes after leaving your car, partially blocking a driveway, parking on the wrong side etc. Puff there goes over 14,000 forints plus wait for someone an hour or two to remove the booth. Hungary is a poor country that just paid it's debt off to the EU and has the highest sales tax in the world 27 percent as you know. Sad but that is how they build "democracy" here on the backs of the citizens! Good luck to you and keep low! LOL!

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

Thinking of moving from here in the near future, seems the city has no room for older people and the countryside is a bit too strange for a non Hungarian speaking older person.

I lived in the Hungarian countryside most of my life, and going to Budapest was like guerrilla warfare in a jungle every time.
If either of you speak some Hungarian, you really should give a small, peaceful village a try before giving up on Hungary completely.

Greetings,
I'm always amazed that someone from a Western country would want to move to Hungary who doesn't speak Hungarian. Myself (if I didn't have Hungarian ties) would rather move to the Dominican Republic, Panama, Brazil or even Spain or Italy. It would be like if |I moved to Russia; it is just not going to happen. You can't even say that it is really cheap. It has the highest sales tax (27 percent), beef is 3 times more expensive than in the states, a small car starts at 15-16,000 USD and the fines are those of a retired school teachers salary. So what is the attraction? Would someone tell me....?

It is very cheap compared to UK for a lot of things. I don't know if Europeans are allowed to emigrate to south America or Dominican Republic. The main attraction for me was the low house prices. I paid about £15,000 for a place that would fetch perhaps £300,000 in England. The Council Tax on my house here would probably be about £1500 a year in England, in Hungary I pay probably less than a tenth of that amount. Car, motorcycle and house insurance are also cheaper than UK. Food is more expensive in the supermarkets but eating out is cheaper. Beer and wine are a fraction of UK prices. Labour charges for things like car and house repairs are much cheaper than UK. I paid 2 men from my village to concrete the floor of my barn and it cost me 8000 Forints per day.

Dear "Fidobsa"! You are quite correct about the prices you quoted but many of those of course are tied to "local wages". While a 45,000 forint traffic fine may not equate to much in British pounds and salary/pension here in Hungary it is equal to half of a retired teachers pension. Of course the Government here taxing people to death and of course that is why they cheat here as a matter of course on their taxes. You also right about the housing. Of course what you quoted is very cheap (perhaps a peasant house) mine a two story two bedroom two bath five minutes from Balaton Lake and cost about 45,000 USD and of course cheaper than comparable US housing (about 50 percent less). Notably you didn't mention beef prices, gasoline (comparing it to US prices) and the 27 percent sales tax as being very high! I guess it matters what you compare it to! LOL!

You were questioning why people from a western country would want to move to Hungary. For Europeans like myself  prices of anything in USA are not relevant. Petrol was slightly cheaper in Hungary than UK last time I checked. I would not know about beef as I don't buy it. VAT is 20% in UK so that is lower but personally my overall tax bill here is lower because of the cheaper Council Tax.
My house in Hungary is a 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom single storey house with 110 square metres living space plus farm buildings and 6,500 square metres of land. It is in the centre of a medium size village near the border with Croatia.
I also find it odd that Americans would want to live in Hungary, as there are so many different places to choose from without ever needing to leave USA.

fidobsa wrote:

I also find it odd that Americans would want to live in Hungary, as there are so many different places to choose from without ever needing to leave USA.

1. Marry a Hungarian, like your spouse and want to hang out with them.
2. Get shot at less in Hungary.
3. No Democrats in Hungary.
4. No Republicans in Hungary.
5. Like adventure, and find the US (and Switzerland) boring.
6. Can't own a winery in the US, at any price, with a view of a lake and a 13th century castle.

(Some of the above, of course, written tongue in cheek.)

'even foreigners arent left unpunished'

I'm sorry, but why would foreigners be an exception? Are they not obliged to follow the rules, just like the rest of society?