Claim for damages against Hungarian National Railways Co.

A complainant could not enforce his claim for damages against Magyar Államvasutak Zrt. (Hungarian National Railways Co. – hereinafter: MÁV) because he had failed to enclose his ticket with the "Request for Compensation" form. The reason of his failure to do so was that he had had to submit the ticket to his employer together with his monthly travel costs statement. He took issue with the fact that MÁV would not authenticate copies of the original tickets and compensate the passengers on the basis thereof for any damages that might have occurred to them.

The complaint raised the issue of the requirement of legal certainty, deriving from the principle of the rule of law, and the possibility of an infringement on the right of fair procedure, so the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights, pursuant to Act CXI of 2011 on the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights, conducted an investigation.

The concept of "commuting to work" is defined by Government Decree 39/2010 (of 26 February). The Decree also uses the term "visiting home", defining it as a weekly round trip (four times a month, as a maximum) from the place of employment to one's home and back. According to the relevant legal regulation, employers shall compensate their employees for 86% of the price of the ticket or monthly pass upon receiving the original ticket or pass from the employee. According to the taxation law, such compensation may be provided "tax‑free" only if the employee submits the original ticket or pass to the employer.

According to the Regulations of MÁV, approved by the National Transportation Authority under No. KH/VA/NS/A/208/3/2010, specifying the general terms and conditions of railway passenger transportation, the railway company shall bear responsibility and pay compensation only for delays longer than 30 minutes, with the exception of the force majeure cases listed in the Regulations. In case the passenger wishes to be compensated, he/she has to enclose the original ticket with the request.

A small technical modification would make easier the lives of hundreds of commuters already suffering from the adverse effects of delays (and other inconveniences). If there are grounds for compensation (usually in case of significant delays), several technical solutions could be considered in order to simplify the procedure, e.g., the acceptance of photocopies.

In his report the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights established that the contradiction between travel compensations provided by the employer to its employees in accordance with the law and the rules specified in the Regulations of MÁV infringe the principle of the rule of law and the requirement of legal certainty deriving therefrom, and the right to fair procedure.

In order to prevent the improprieties uncovered in the course of the investigation from recurring, the Commissioner requested the president of the National Transport Authority exercising legal supervision over MÁV to revise the Regulations of MÁV and to initiate their amendment.