That's not true for criminal offenses at least. You have to pay them or you go to jail. If you're on welfare and have 400€ to live on they generally expect you to pay 100€ a month. From what remains you have to pay everything but rent, so energy, Internet, and other fixed costs you might have as well as food. I wouldn't be surprised if this actuajly forced a lot of people into crime just to not go hungry.