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The “Won’t Pay” movement emerged after the state-owned public transportation companies in Athens and Thessaloniki announced increases in the price of bus tickets in 2010. The movement also fought against price hikes on toll fees imposed by the privately-owned companies building and maintaining Greece's national highways. The reasons behind the emergence of this movement lay in the widespread perception that while the government was cutting wages and salaries, in the context of Greece's economic adjustment, it was reluctant to control the cost of utilities (such as public transportation or electricity) in a commensurate manner.

A different kind of “Won’t Pay” movement emerged in 2011. When the government saw that the tax collecting authorities were unable to meet their tax revenue targets as the year was coming to close, it imposed a new tax on home ownership. The government announced that this tax would be proportional to the size of property owned by tax payers and would be included in the electricity bills of the Public Power Corporation (DEI), the single provider of electricity in the country. In reaction, there were public calls, including a call by Syriza’s leader, Alexis Tsipras, not to pay the electricity bills.