Overview
- Under §265a of the Criminal Code, riding without a valid ticket counts as obtaining a service by deception and repeat cases can bring up to a year in jail.
- Bills from the Greens and the Left to delete §265a did not advance after votes where the Greens and the Left backed the plans and the CDU, SPD and AfD opposed them.
- Federal Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig has urged decriminalization and favors handling cases as fines rather than crimes.
- Interviews at Syke station show a split public, with some calling criminal penalties fair to paying riders and others saying jail is too harsh and fines should rise instead.
- People raised real-world issues, from ticket machine and language hurdles to fears of higher fares if rules soften, alongside hopes of easing court backlogs and avoiding criminal records for minor cases.