Community bike use was one of the missing elements of this year’s cafeteria plans. Over the past few years this benefit had become distinctly popular among our clients, but at the beginning of the year it could not be included among the selectable options: the operator announced the temporary suspension of the public bike-sharing system.

On 3 August the Budapest public bike-sharing service restarted — and with it the related benefit became available again. At employers whose cafeteria policy permits mid-year changes, the item can return to the offering almost immediately; everyone else should factor it into their 2027 planning.

Why did it drop off the list?

The previous operating contract expired in December 2025. It was followed by a short transitional period with a discounted pilot pass, and then the service was suspended in the spring because the launch of the new system was pushed back. At the time of the declaration round at the start of 2026 there was therefore no pass product that employers could have offered to their employees.

What is available now?

The system is run by a new operator, Inurba Mobility, with a new mobile app and an entirely new bike fleet. The key points from a benefits perspective:

  • Two vehicle types: classic, purely human-powered bicycles and electrically assisted (e-Bubi) bicycles. Each type has its own separate pass.
  • Pass types: monthly and annual passes, plus pay-per-minute use without a pass.
  • Fleet: 2,000 bikes at launch, 3,300 after the initial period, and an expected 5,000 by 2027.
  • Coverage area: currently around 40 km², with the aim of doubling it. The service is still Budapest-only, so it is not a realistic option for employees at rural sites.

Pass prices

Pass prices
PassPriceFree period per rental
Classic monthlyHUF 2,500 (HUF 2,000 with a BudapestGO pass)30 minutes
Classic annualHUF 19,500 (HUF 17,000 with a BudapestGO pass)30 minutes
e-Bubi monthly (introductory price)HUF 4,50015 minutes
e-Bubi annual (introductory price)HUF 38,25015 minutes

After the free period, a usage fee of HUF 60 per minute applies. (The pricing reflects the state of play at the time of publication.)

A mid-year extension of the offering makes it available almost immediately

If the company cafeteria policy allows mid-year benefit changes, employees do not have to wait until 2027 for the public bike pass to appear in their cafeteria system.

The c1 cafeteria system supports extending the benefit offering mid-year: an existing benefit item already present in the system can be reactivated, after which employees can reopen their declarations and choose MOL Bubi for future periods.

A reminder: the tax and accounting background

The tax treatment of the benefit has not changed — the following summarises the rules in force from 1 January 2026.

  • Tax exemption. Under point 8.44 of Annex 1 to the Personal Income Tax Act, the private use of a bicycle provided by the payer — one powered purely by human effort or assisted by an electric motor of a specified output — is tax-exempt. The law does not require the bicycle to be owned by the provider, so the exemption also extends to the use of a bike-sharing service.
  • Output limit: 750 W. The limit rose from 300 W to 750 W on 1 January 2026. Electrically assisted public bikes are therefore comfortably within the threshold — the arrival of e-Bubi widens the opportunity rather than narrowing it.
  • Bicycles only. The exemption cannot be applied to scooters, electric scooters or other two-wheeled vehicles.

The key condition: the employer must provide the service. This reading rests on the position of the Hungarian tax authority: NAV’s information notice of 3 September 2021, "Januártól adómentesen biztosítható a kerékpárhasználat", states that a payer may also provide bicycle use tax-free through a sharing-based community transport service, provided it verifiably rents the bicycle from the provider on the basis of an invoice issued in the payer’s own name. With MOL Bubi this means the employer must order the service for its employees.

An employee purchase does not qualify, not even on the company’s behalf or using the company’s details. If the employee buys the pass and the employer reimburses the cost afterwards, the benefit is not tax-exempt: that is not the provision of bicycle use but support towards a service the employee obtained.

The practical mechanics — which NAV’s notice does not cover — are set by the operator: the company orders the coupon codes and passes them on to its employees, who then use the code to access the service.