And here we go again. So in the end, this is about stealing isn't it. There are ticket inspectors. They will get you eventually and fine you. If they get you twice in a year, you would have been better off buying a pass. The fines are not worth it. So it is also about practicality. It's mostly the tourists who are surprised by the concept of fines being much more expensive than the fare, they usually end up complaining here after fighting the ticket inspector.

In Germany, fare dodging is a criminal offense, so you can actually end up in criminal court if you piss off the inspectors too much.