i was caught and i paid fine to BKV

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.

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.

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.

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...!

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.

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.

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.

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.)