Greece to crack down on Fare Dodgers with Misdemeanor Law tagged: , , , , , , , , ,

Greece to crack down on Fare Dodgers with Misdemeanor Law

Posted by keeptalkinggreece in Society

 Do you belong to the group of  ‘social outcasts’ like Athenians of middle aged people and pensioners who declare on Greek television channels that they don’t pay the expensive ticket fares because they can’t afford it?  Are you one of the ”anti-socials” ( Transport Minister) or “Scumbags” (newspaper editor), who refuse to buy tickets but insist in using the public transport?

If you happen to do so, it’s time to change attitude, folks! Then the government is preparing a bill and will put you in jail, if controllers catch you with an unvoided ticket or no ticket at all.

The law amendment will turn the ‘act of I don’t pay’ into misdemeanor. So, if you are a fare dodger,  a  €1,40-law breaker and get caught and identified, you will be asked to pay the current fine, some 60-70 euros.

Should you keep on refusing to pay, you will be legally prosecuted for misdemeanor and face a jail sentence. It’s not yet clear for how long, we’ll know more in a couple of days when the bill is ready.

Citizens’ Reactions 

I just saw a relevant report on ALTER TV and citizens asked their opinion said really weird things. For example…

 An old man complained, he gets a € 350 monthy pension and asked back “How comes I need 3 euros to fix things in  Athens downtown?”

Anolder lady  saw a “government ordered curfew” as she couldn’t't go anywhere with these ticket prices.

And another woman, a 40 something trimmed blond, described the new measures as a “Nazi-style decree“.

I see however another  problem here. A couple of weeks ago I heard the Minister in charge of  Illegal Immigration saying that human traffickers go free because the jails were full.

So how will the government solve this problem given the fact that the movement of those refusing to pay the ticket fairs is growing? The same punishment is  going to apply for the similar growing movement of those refusing to pay the highway tolls. 

I see no other solution than building new jails.

This has one positive aspect as it will create new jobs especially for the economic crisis-ridden construction sector.

You can avoid all the trouble if you pay 1,40 euro ticket fair  – in case you adjust your program according to Athens public transport strike agenda.