The Helsinki Transport Authority (HSL) has become stricter about issuing fines for tickets purchased on the app after the bus or tram has started moving.
A matter of a few seconds cost 16-year-old Kasperi dearly last winter.
The teenager started loading a travel ticket on his phone at Martinlaakso station in Vantaa just before boarding the bus. As it was freezing cold outside, and his phone battery was low, he stepped onto the bus while the ticket was still loading.
This resulted in a fine of 100 euros, as the inspector deemed him to have broken the Helsinki Transport Authority’s (acronymed as HSL in Finnish) tighter regulations about app-based ticket purchases — and their timings.
“The ticket was five or six seconds late,” Kasperi told Yle.
His mother Ira submitted an appeal to HSL about the fine.
“I thought the situation was unreasonable given the circumstances and the boy’s age,” she said.
But HSL rejected the appeal and the fine stood.
Kasperi and his mother appear in this article with their first names only as Kasperi is underage. Their identities are known to Yle’s editorial staff.
“Unreasonably harsh”
According to HSL’s own figures, about 6,000 minors — meaning people under the age of 18 — received an inspection fine on the transport authority’s services last year.
Dozens of young people or their parents have told Yle about experiencing similar situations as Kasperi’s.
Many noted that the fine was “unreasonably harsh”, and the appeal was too easily rejected.
This is borne out by the data. A couple of years ago, HSL received about 1,800 appeals, of which about 20 percent were accepted. Last year, only one in ten of over 4,300 appeals were granted.
Some people who contacted Yle suggested that a young person’s ticket history should be taken into account during the inspection or during the appeal process — as that may prove that the person in question is a conscientious public transport passenger.
In addition, Kasperi and his mother, as well as many other young people and parents interviewed by Yle, felt that HSL has cracked down harder on younger people than on older passengers.
“I got the feeling that the company is after money. They want to get as much money as possible from everything,” Kasperi said.
According to HSL spokesperson Satu Koskinen, the company takes all matters into account when deciding on an appeal, but the financial situation of the fee recipient or their parents is not sufficient grounds for an exemption.
“The law does not mention financial grounds, and we would not have the possibility or right to check the person’s financial situation,” Koskinen said.
