This Sunday, May 4, a post provoked strong reactions on X. Salomé, a 24-year-old Parisian, shared her misadventure on the network: the user had to pay a fine of 150 euros for having transported an oversized plant inside a station. A higher penalty than if she had committed fraud.
150 euros for a plant: the fine that’s causing X to cringe
After buying a plant, albeit a little tall, at a dedicated sale, Salomé was about to take line 3 home. At the station, after passing through the turnstiles, she had to undergo a routine check. After a few brief explanations, the agent gave her the bad news: “Your plant is too big. You have to pay a fine.” Although she expected to pay “20 or 30 euros”, the user had no choice but to pay 150 euros to leave. A staggering situation according to the woman concerned, who was quick to share her story on X, while mentioning the RATP’s accounts.
While the offence does indeed exist in the transport authority’s database, it’s the conditions under which the fine was issued that are causing X to cringe. Not being on the platform or in a train, Salomé was in fact fined for “dangerous or inconvenient object in a car”. The young Parisian also regrets the lack of education on the part of RATP agents, assuring us that she would have turned back if she had known that transporting her plant was problematic.
In any case, Salomé intends to lodge a complaint, and the matter is still pending. In the meantime, she has nicknamed her plant “Prune”.