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Here's how much you'll pay for fare-dodging in Rome

The Local Italy
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Here's how much you'll pay for fare-dodging in Rome
Rome city council is looking to indroduce heavy fines for ticket dodgers. Photo: Martin Addison

Italy's capital is considering introducing fines of up to €200 for passengers caught on trains and buses without a valid ticket.

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The proposals have been put forward in a piece of draft legislation which also wants to increase the number of ticket inspectors.

The new inspectors would have the power to enforce the super-fines “equal to 60 times the cost of the ticket, but no more than €200.”

As well as sending out more ticket inspectors to crack down on fare-dodging, proposals also call for the introduction of more CCTV on buses, trains and at bus stops, which “could be used to identify transgressors who refuse to give their details to inspectors.”

Proponents say the measures are needed to crack down on the problem – which is rife in the Eternal City.

“We fully support these measures to help fight ticket evasion,” Massimo Roncucci, president of national transport authority Asstra told Il Fatto Quotidiano. “It's a really serious problem across Italy which is worth between €400 and €500 million a year. About 20 percent of all passengers travel without tickets.”

But not everybody has welcomed the proposals.

Consumer groups argue that the city council should focus on improving transport services in order to convince more people that it's worth buying a ticket.

“We are against all forms of evasion and believe fare-dodgers should be punished,” said Carlo Rienzi President of national consumer rights groups Codacons.

“But given the pitiful state of local public transport and the repeated inconveniences users suffer each day, councils should be looking at ways to improve transport and not just drawing up heavy punishments for passengers already upset with poor service, constant strikes and technical problems.”  

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