RATP agents receive a bonus for each fine, which can lead to certain abuses.
Are metro controllers too zealous? This is the question asked by a large number of Parisians and tourists, who have already paid a fine during a trip to the capital. Of course, there are those who don’t have a ticket, but there are also a whole bunch of subtleties unknown to the general public… and RATP agents are known to be uncompromising. For example, some were fined because their name was not sufficiently visible on the transport card, or because they were carrying a bulky plant in the metro, or even for not having validated their Navigo pass… even though the gates were out of service.
This severity of RATP agents can be explained very simply: they receive bonuses depending on the number of their fines. More specifically, they earn a percentage of each fine that is paid immediately on the spot. As a result, some controllers select tourist spots where offenders are more likely to pay straight away rather than waiting to contest. “We have agents who are bounty hunters. The more they do, the more they are rewarded. The hierarchy encourages the team leaders to ensure that they bring in the most receipts”explains an agent, recorded without his knowledge, in the 8 p.m. France 2.
The RATP’s internal documents state this in black and white: “When a traveler in violation regularizes his situation immediately, the agent concerned receives a bonus equal to 10% of the amount of this fixed compensation”. With fines ranging from 15 to 150 euros, and sometimes more than 30 fines per day and per agent, the amount can quickly climb at the end of the month.
In buses and trams, the system is different: controllers do not receive bonuses for each fine, but a fixed bonus at the end of the year if the objectives have been achieved, explains his side THE Parisian. This limits abuses in relation to metro and RER agents, although the RATP ensures that it audits the bonuses paid to agents every year to avoid abuse. Despite everything, protests have increased by 50% in three years, proof of the growing dissatisfaction of travelers with these sometimes unfair fines.
Moreover, for non-Paris residents who have noticed this same excess of zeal among the SNCF inspectors, you are not dreaming: they too are paid by the fine. Always according to The Parisianagents generally collect 4% on a fine when the traveler has reported himself, and 10% when the fine is issued during a check. And if agents obtain more than 30 euros in commission over the month, they then obtain an additional so-called “collection” bonus. Enough to make some people want to inflate their salary.
