Hungary Company Lookup: When a Stale Date Is Good News

A Hungary company lookup runs through the cégjegyzék, the company register, kept by the cégbíróságok — the courts acting as company courts. Access is provided by the Céginformációs Szolgálat, the Company Information Service of the Igazságügyi Minisztérium. Three addresses matter: e-cegjegyzek.hu for free company information, e-beszamolo.im.gov.hu for accounts, and e-cegkozlony.gov.hu for the official gazette. This guide covers what the free service gives you, what a ministerial decree says it will not give you, and where the accounts actually live. If you need the Hungarian population rather than one company at a time, the Hungary company directory covers the same registered companies with industry, size and contact breakdowns attached, and the Hungary business database is the same file described as a dataset.

Hungary company lookup: the short version

• The free extract is refreshed only when something changes. If nothing has changed, the stored cégkivonat you get back carries an effective date more than a week old — and the register says so itself.
• That inverts the usual reading. An old date in the Hungarian free service is evidence that nothing changed, not evidence of neglect.
• A ministerial decree limits what the free service is: it is informative, cannot be used as an authentic document, and does not extend to obtaining the whole register or a significant part of it.
• Accounts are somewhere else — at e-beszamolo.im.gov.hu, without delay and free of charge.

A stale date means nothing changed

Every guide in this series has had to deal with the question of how fresh a register's data is. Hungary answers it by explaining its own refresh logic, which almost no register does:

"Az ingyenes szolgáltatásban elérhető adatok csak abban az esetben kerülnek frissítésre, amennyiben a cégjegyzékben bejegyzett adatokban a korábbi állapothoz képest változás állt be. Ha tehát a cég cégbíróságon nyilvántartott adataiban semmiféle változás nem történt, akkor a lekérdezés eredményeként kapott tárolt cégkivonat hatályosságának dátuma 1 hétnél korábbi lesz."

The data available in the free service is refreshed only where a change has occurred in the data recorded in the company register compared with its previous state. So if no change whatsoever has occurred in the company's data held at the company court, the effective date of the stored cégkivonat returned by the query will be earlier than one week.

Stop and read what that does to a familiar habit. In most systems an effective date well in the past is a warning: the pipeline may have stalled, the source may be behind, the record may have been forgotten. Here the register has told you in advance that the date moves only when the underlying data moves. So the old date is not a symptom. It is the answer to a different question, and the answer is nothing has changed.

A reader who discards a Hungarian record for having an old effective date has discarded the wrong signal — and, worse, has discarded precisely the records the register is most confident about.

Two limits on that reading, and both matter. First, this says nothing about how current the data is in absolute terms; it says the date reflects the last change rather than the last refresh. Second, and more important: the register scopes this statement to the free service, and so does this page. Nothing here describes the refresh behaviour of paid or authenticated products, because the source does not address them.

The decree's limit on the free service

The same page carries a second statement, and this one is secondary legislation rather than a service note. Citing decree 47/2007 (X. 20.) IRM:

"az ingyenes céginformáció tájékoztató jellegű, és közhiteles okiratként nem használható fel, illetve a szolgáltatás nem terjed ki a céginformáció olyan biztosítására, amely a cégjegyzék adatai egészének, illetve annak jelentős részének megszerzését eredményezné."

Free company information is informative in nature and cannot be used as an authentic document, and the service does not extend to providing company information in a way that would result in obtaining the whole of the company register's data, or a significant part of it.

Two things in one sentence, and it is worth keeping them apart. The first is an evidentiary limit: informative, not authentic. The second is a bulk limit, and it is unusual in being written into a decree rather than into a terms-of-use page. The free service is not a route to the register as a whole, and the instrument saying so is law.

What is permitted instead is not something this page will say. The decree states what the free service does not extend to; it does not enumerate the routes that do, and nothing read here addresses paid or bulk channels. Inferring them from the prohibition would be inventing the part that matters.

There is a comparison to be drawn here, because two other European registers in this series answer the same question in their own law, and the three answers do not line up. The Czech Republic company lookup guide covers a state whose statute defines open data as information "jejichž způsob ani účel následného využití není omezen" — whose manner and purpose of subsequent use is not restricted. The Belgium company lookup guide covers a state whose open-data terms state that "Personal data may not be reused for direct marketing purposes". Hungary's decree restricts neither purpose nor manner but volume: the free service does not extend to obtaining the whole register or a significant part of it.

Three member states, three legal answers to what a person may do with a company register they were given for free — and the restrictions are on different axes entirely. None is better than the others and this page does not rank them. The useful conclusion is narrower and more practical: a process designed against one country's regime tells you nothing about what is permitted in the next, because the three are not stricter and looser versions of one rule. They are different rules.

What a Hungarian company register entry contains

A self-contained summary. Hungary's company register is the cégjegyzék, kept by the cégbíróságok — the courts acting as company courts — with access provided by the Céginformációs Szolgálat of the Igazságügyi Minisztérium. Free company information is available online at e-cegjegyzek.hu. Per the European e-Justice portal, the register data and the company documents underlying registration are kept by the törvényszékek acting as cégbíróságok, electronically for both data and documents, and data for a company registered at any company court in the country is available free at e-cegjegyzek.hu; otherwise access is chargeable. Company information is searchable by one of company name, cégjegyzékszám (register number) or adószám (tax number). Citing decree 47/2007 (X. 20.) IRM, free company information is informative in nature, cannot be used as an authentic document, and the service does not extend to providing company information in a way that would result in obtaining the whole of the register's data or a significant part of it. Data in the free service is refreshed only where a change has occurred in the registered data compared with the previous state, so where no change has occurred the effective date of the stored cégkivonat returned will be earlier than one week. The Céginformációs Szolgálat states that it charges nothing for appearing on e-cegjegyzek.hu. Accounts sent for deposit and publication under the accounting law become available at e-beszamolo.im.gov.hu without delay and free of charge, and the Service provides inspection of electronically processed company documents at its Customer Service Office. Under Act CXCIV of 2015, where a company's member or representative requests the cégkivonat, cégbizonyítvány or cégmásolat, or the electronic transmission of the company's electronic documents held in the register, issuance is free; electronic requests must carry at least an advanced electronic signature or AVDH document authentication. Company publicity in Hungary is served by the company court, the company information service, and publication in the Cégközlöny, the official journal of the Ministry of Justice, freely available at e-cegkozlony.gov.hu.

Free for your own company

One practical rule is easy to miss and worth knowing before paying for anything.

Under Act CXCIV of 2015, where a company's member or representative requests the cégkivonat, the cégbizonyítvány or the cégmásolat — or the electronic transmission of the company's electronic documents held in the register — issuance became free.

There is a condition on the channel rather than on the person: electronic requests must carry at least an advanced electronic signature or AVDH document authentication. That is the mechanism by which the Service establishes that the requester is in fact the member or representative they claim to be, which is what the exemption turns on.

Separately, the Céginformációs Szolgálat states plainly that "A Céginformációs Szolgálat a https://www.e-cegjegyzek.hu/ oldalon való megjelenésért díjazást nem kér" — the Service asks no payment for appearing on that site. A company does not pay to be listed.

Accounts are somewhere else

A reader looking for Hungarian financial statements in the company extract is in the wrong place.

Accounts sent for deposit and publication under the accounting law become available at e-beszamolo.im.gov.hu "haladéktalanul és ingyenesen" — without delay and free of charge. That is a separate service with its own address, and the terms on it are notably generous: not merely free, but explicitly without delay.

The Service also provides inspection of electronically processed company documents at its Customer Service Office, which is a physical route for documents rather than data.

Where a Hungary lookup stops

The free service reaches the whole country. Per the European e-Justice portal, the register data and the underlying company documents are kept by the törvényszékek acting as cégbíróságok, electronically for both, and data for a company registered at any company court in the country is available free at e-cegjegyzek.hu. Beyond that, "Egyébként a hozzáférés térítésköteles" — otherwise, access is chargeable.

Search is by one of three keys: company name, cégjegyzékszám (the register number) or adószám (the tax number).

Company publicity in Hungary is served by three things together: the company court, the company information service, and publication in the Cégközlöny, the official journal of the Ministry of Justice, freely available at e-cegkozlony.gov.hu. A reader who cannot find what they need in the extract has the gazette as a separate and free route.

Where the question is a population rather than a company, a firmographic directory covers the same registered companies with classification, size and contact data attached and queryable as a set; the Europe company directory breaks the European file down by market.

Data quality pitfalls to avoid in Hungary

Discarding a record because its effective date is old. In the free service the date moves only when the registered data moves, so an effective date earlier than a week is evidence that nothing changed.

Extending that reading beyond the free service. The register scopes the refresh-on-change statement to the free service, and nothing sourced here describes the behaviour of any other product.

Treating free company information as an authentic document. Decree 47/2007 (X. 20.) IRM states it is informative in nature and cannot be used as an authentic document.

Planning to assemble the register from the free service. The same decree states the service does not extend to providing information that would result in obtaining the whole register or a significant part of it.

Looking for accounts in the company extract. They are published separately at e-beszamolo.im.gov.hu, without delay and free of charge.

Paying for your own company's documents. Under Act CXCIV of 2015 a member or representative gets the cégkivonat, cégbizonyítvány or cégmásolat free, given an advanced electronic signature or AVDH authentication on an electronic request.

A repeatable Hungary company lookup workflow

1. Search by cégjegyzékszám or adószám where you have one, by company name where you do not.
2. Read the effective date of a stored cégkivonat as the date of the last change, not the date of the last refresh.
3. Do not treat free company information as an authentic document.
4. Go to e-beszamolo.im.gov.hu for accounts rather than looking for them in the extract.
5. Check the Cégközlöny when the extract does not answer the question.
6. If you are the member or representative, request your own documents with an advanced electronic signature or AVDH and expect no charge.

Frequently asked questions

Why is my Hungarian company extract dated more than a week ago?

Because nothing has changed. The free service refreshes data only where a change has occurred in the registered data compared with the previous state, so an effective date earlier than one week means no change was recorded at the company court.

Is that a problem?

No — it is the opposite of the usual signal. The date tracks the last change rather than the last refresh, so an old date is evidence of stability. The register scopes this to the free service, and so does this answer.

Can I use free company information as an official document?

No. Decree 47/2007 (X. 20.) IRM states that free company information is informative in nature and cannot be used as an authentic document.

Can I download the whole Hungarian register from the free service?

No. The same decree states the service does not extend to providing company information in a way that would result in obtaining the whole of the register's data or a significant part of it. What routes do exist is not something this page states, because the source does not.

Where are Hungarian annual accounts?

At e-beszamolo.im.gov.hu. Accounts sent for deposit and publication under the accounting law become available there without delay and free of charge.

What can I search by?

Company name, cégjegyzékszám (register number) or adószám (tax number).

Is my own company's extract free?

Under Act CXCIV of 2015, where a company's member or representative requests the cégkivonat, cégbizonyítvány or cégmásolat, or electronic transmission of the company's electronic documents, issuance is free. Electronic requests need at least an advanced electronic signature or AVDH authentication.

Does a company pay to appear on e-cegjegyzek.hu?

No. The Céginformációs Szolgálat states that it asks no payment for appearing on that site.

Source Register

Every Hungarian sentence quoted above is the publisher's own wording, read on the date shown, carrying its accents as the source writes them, with an English gloss beside it rather than in place of it. No amount appears anywhere in this page's prose — not a fee, not a count, not a document price — and in particular the commercial tariffs visible on reseller sites are absent entirely. HUNGARY_REPORT.md enumerates the omissions with what would confirm each.

The readings that are InfobelPRO's rather than the Service's: that an old effective date in the Hungarian free service inverts the usual freshness signal and should not be treated as staleness; that the decree's two clauses are best kept apart, one evidentiary and one about volume; and that a process designed against one European open-data regime tells you nothing about the next, because the Czech, Belgian and Hungarian restrictions sit on different axes rather than at different strengths. Those are ours. The three-way comparison is a comparison of published legal answers, not a ranking of them.