90 cities · 149 rules
The Fine That Isn't Set By Law
Almost every other penalty on this site is written in a statute or an ordinance. Fare evasion is different: the amount is set by the transport operator's own conditions of carriage, which is why two cities in one country can charge different figures and both be right.
Why This Page Cannot Give You One Number
Checking every fare-evasion figure on this site against its source produced the same answer 37 times: there is no law to check it against. A fare penalty is a contractual matter between you and the operator, set in its conditions of carriage — so Italy shows €50–200 in eight cities and €100–500 in three others, and Austria charges €105 in Salzburg but €135–145 in Vienna, without any of them contradicting a statute. The figure is real, it is just not legislation, and it changes when the operator's tariff changes rather than when a parliament sits. Every one of those 37 rules now names the operator whose tariff has to be read instead of implying a national rule exists.
Ask which company runs the line, not which country you are in.
Germany, The One Country With A Real Answer
Germany legislates it, and the figure held up. § 6 of the Eisenbahn-Verkehrsordnung sets a €60 floor for travelling without a valid ticket on rail, and § 9 of the Verordnung über die Allgemeinen Beförderungsbedingungen caps tram and bus at the same €60 — federally, for every German city. Berlin and Munich had both published €60 and both were correct, which made them the rare case where verification confirmed rather than corrected. It is now written once as a national rule and every German city inherits it. Germany is also the only country whose jaywalking figure survived: €5, or €10 where you endanger someone, straight out of the Bußgeldkatalog.
Six German cities published €5–10 for jaywalking and the BKatV confirms it exactly. That is what a verified figure looks like.
The Validation Trap
The mechanism that catches tourists is not the price, it is the moment of validation. In Rome, Prague, Budapest and much of Italy and central Europe a purchased ticket is worthless until it is stamped in a small machine at the platform entrance or inside the vehicle, and an unstamped ticket counts as no ticket at all. There are no turnstiles in Vienna, Berlin, Munich or Zurich either — you board freely and plainclothes inspectors check at random, which tourists routinely read as an absence of enforcement rather than an absence of gates. Buying the wrong zone has the same effect as buying nothing: airport lines are frequently outside the standard urban zone even when the map suggests otherwise.
Having a ticket is not the same as having validated one, and inspectors are not interested in the difference.
E-Scooters, The Newest And Least Settled
Rental e-scooters arrived faster than the law and the rules are still moving. Paris removed rental scooters entirely after a 2023 referendum; several countries now require third-party insurance, and a number of those requirements took effect in January 2026, which is recent enough that enforcement practice is not established. Riding on a pavement is the common offence rather than riding at all. These figures are the least reliable on this site: most are municipal or brand-new national instruments, and where they carry no citable amount they now carry no amount at all.
Every city at a glance
Generated from each city page, so it never drifts from them. Sorted by the highest figure the city publishes for this category.
Frequently asked questions
Do I really need to validate my ticket in Europe?
In Rome, Prague, Kraków, Budapest and much of Italy and central Europe, yes. A paper ticket has to be stamped in a small machine before or as you board, and an unvalidated ticket is treated exactly as no ticket. Northern European cities using tap-in cards validate by the tap itself, so the trap is specific to the paper-and-stamp systems.
Why does the same country charge different fare-evasion fines in different cities?
Because it is not set by law. A fare penalty comes from the transport operator's conditions of carriage, not from a national penalty scale, so each operator sets its own — Salzburg charges €105 and Vienna €135–145, and neither is wrong. Germany is the exception: EVO § 6 and BefBedV § 9 fix it federally at €60.
What is the fare-evasion fine in Germany?
€60, everywhere, on rail, tram and bus. It is one of the few transport figures in Europe set by national regulation rather than by an operator: § 6 of the Eisenbahn-Verkehrsordnung sets a €60 floor for rail and § 9 of the Beförderungsbedingungen caps tram and bus at €60.
What happens if I buy the wrong zone ticket?
It is treated as travelling without a ticket, not as an underpayment. Airport connections are the usual trap, because they frequently sit outside the standard urban zone even where the network map makes them look continuous. Check the zone for the airport line specifically before you use a city pass on it.
Can I be fined for jaywalking in Europe?
In Germany, yes and the amount is documented: €5 under the Bußgeldkatalog, rising to €10 where you endanger someone. Elsewhere the picture is unreliable — Poland's cities published four different figures and Austria's published two, for offences that are national in both countries, so at most one figure per country can be correct and all of them are flagged as unverified here.
Are e-scooter rules the same across Europe?
No, and this is the least settled area on the site. Paris banned rental scooters outright in 2023, several countries introduced mandatory third-party insurance with some requirements starting in January 2026, and riding on pavements is the offence far more often than riding itself. Where no citable amount exists, the rules here carry no amount rather than an estimate.