Why not? It's very simple. A personal monthly ticket is cheaper than a transferable one.

You get a discount for you personalised monthly ticket and so must prove you are the person who bought the ticket. You may also buy a non-personalised one for a few CHF more in which case ID would not be required.

Thanks for the answer, I still do find it totally silly. If I buy a blender on sell and someone else is using it, no one will come to me and check if it is mine and only me using it...

I am pushing a bit but it is because I find that very stupid! I paid it, they got my money, so who cares who is using it!

Do you pay 66CHF or 77CHF for your monthly card? If the former, then is says "Nicht übertragbar". Not transferrable. So you must show id, that you are entitled to use the card. If the latter, it says "Dieses U-Abo ist übertragbar". So it is transferable, and I can tell you from experience, that I've never been asked for id when I show it.

If you want someone else to use it - you have to pay the extra 10CHF.

Not really that stupid, is it?

Yeah yeah.... That makes sense.... But I am still too mad about it to freely admit that you are right....

Also be warned the same applies to normal (one time use) rail tickets bought from the SBB website. I bought a normal one day return ticket online for my brother (no half tax or any other discount) and when we were on the train the inspector asked to see his ID when she examined the ticket. He did not have it on him and he asked why it was necessary. The reason is because the web issued tickets contain the name of the passenger and even on these one day tickets they want to check that, e.g. they have not been used by more than one person. To produce a set of credit cards all with the exact same name as that on the ticket was nicht acceptable, neither was a foreign driving license - she wanted Schweizer qualitat ID or a passport. So best just to have ID with you on public transport I guess.

Luckily we had a relatively pleasant enough human inspector rather than an automaton and she used common sense and let us off with a mild better remember next time type of warning.

I wish I had someone nice too. I was on the tram yesterday to go to pick up my daughter and I didn't have my wallet. Hubby took it with the diaper bag in the morning when he left (he didnt know it was there). So I had only my tram pass and my bank card on me and I knew that my wallet was at the kindergarten. Anyway, long story short, I explained that to the controler but he didn't find any common sense to understand the situation and took my pass away.

Yes I didn't have my ID but sometimes shit happens and it is nice to have someone able to understand that.

I guess that was Murphy's law. Because everytime they asked me to see my pass, they never ever asked me for my ID.

Poor you. I like to think there is a special place reserved for these people in the afterlife so that we never have to deal with their kind again.

Go to the BLT place in Heuwaage and complain. You might also like to talk to your Gemeinde police - I'm not convinced that the controller is permitted to take your pass away from you.

What should have happened is that he issue you with a fine. You go to the office, with your pass (and ID) and pay 5 CHF admin fee, and the fine is withdrawn.

He gave me a yellow paper with no fine priced on it and he told me that this was the date (he wrote down) it was valid for.

I was very mad that he took it away from me.

Yes but if you buy a one day (one way or return) SBB train ticket in the Internet it has your name on it & the inspectors often ask for ID.

I think by "pass" the poster(s) actually meant ticket ?

Thanks you're right!

Which goes to show you need to read the whole thread in order to reply. Maybe I should just shut up because so much time I do not have.

I've got a few questions about IDs accepted by the swiss police, I'm hoping you lot can enlighten me on the actual situation.

1. What kind of foreign documents can be used as an ID? When I lived in Italy I could use my Croatian photo ID card instead of my passport since there's a treaty about that. Can I use it as an ID in Switzerland? The main reason I'm asking is because I don't want to carry my passport with me all the time, it can't fit in my wallet and it's a much bigger PITA to replace then the ID card if it's lost. I want it safely tucked in a drawer.

2. Can the permit be used as an ID or do I also have to carry an ID card/passport/whatever with it? (from what I've seen so far in the thread you don't have to carry the permit per se, a photocopy can suffice, but you might get a free ride to the your apartment by the police to check)

3. Is it possible to make a swiss photo ID card if you have a work permit, to avoid carrying your passport with you all the time?

Not really needed.

Residence permit alone is fine.

No.

Thanks for the swift and concise reply swissbob. Much appreciated.