This article first appeared on RTL.de

After a long wait, the first students and technical students can look forward to the long-awaited energy price flat rate of 200 euros. For some, the payment of the money is to begin this Friday as part of a test phase. The majority of the 3.5 million beneficiaries can apply for the money from March 15th.

In order to receive the EUR 200 flat rate for energy costs, the following requirements must be met:

The energy price flat rate should neither be taxed nor offset against any social benefits.

The one-off payment can be applied for in four steps via the EINSALGUNG200.DE portal:

Proof of identity Authorized persons must register with a BundID, which they can create now.

Fill out the online application For the application, you only need to have the account details (IBAN) ready and confirm the declaration. The application can already be submitted online.

Receive a one-off payment If all the requirements are met, the applicants will receive a notification by e-mail with the approval and the 200 euros on the specified account.

Recently there was criticism that all those affected have to create a user account with the federal government, a so-called BundID account, in order to clearly identify themselves when applying.

It has now been clarified that the online function of the identity card or an “Elster certificate”, as used for online tax returns, is not absolutely necessary, but that a simple BundID account with a username and password can also be created .

The traffic light coalition had already agreed on the special payment in September 2022. The practical implementation turned out to be difficult and dragged on for more than half a year. A quick transfer of the 200 euros was thwarted, among other things, by the fact that the account details of all the students and technical students concerned were not available centrally.

The federal and state governments repeatedly got into arguments when trying to create an application platform. It was about data protection, responsibilities and technical details. Student representatives and the opposition in the Bundestag had criticized the slow process.

Students and technical school students will be informed about the details of registration and application by their educational institutions. According to students who work at RTL, no information or access codes had been sent out by Friday, March 10th. The possibility of submitting an application could therefore still drag on.