The first students can apply for the long-awaited energy price flat rate of 200 euros. A pilot phase has started around two weeks before the planned start of the application platform for all around 3.5 million students and technical students, as a spokesman for the Federal Ministry of Education confirmed today in Berlin. Several universities in Germany take part in it.
In the pilot phase, it should be checked whether the technical processes work. The Reutlingen University and the Otto von Guericke University in Magdeburg are among the participants. The students enrolled there can already apply for the 200 euros, as the universities announced on their websites.
Criticism of slow processing
The practical implementation of the special payment has been discussed for months. It has been criticized that half a year has passed since the government announced it and those affected have still not seen any money. The online application process has also been criticized because anyone who wants to apply for the 200 euros must first create a user account with the federal government, a so-called BundID account.
This is intended to save citizens from having to go to the authorities: With access, they should be able to identify themselves to the authorities so that applications or other administrative services can also be dealt with online. How does it work when applying for the 200 euro energy price flat rate?
The Federal Ministry of Education confirmed again today that everyone must first create an account at id.bund.de. There are three options here:
Registration with the online function of the identity card or via the Elster certificate, which is used for the electronic tax return. Or in the classic way, as with other user accounts on the internet: think up a user name and password and enter an e-mail address. However, the following must also be specified: Birthday, place of birth and address, because this is an account with which one should be able to identify oneself to the authorities. An e-mail is then sent and the registration must be confirmed by clicking on a link. The next steps will probably look something like that at the pilot university in Magdeburg: The students and technical students will receive a message and a long access code from their institution. This code must first be entered in a login mask on the One-Time Payment200.de page. If you only have a simple username/password account with BundID, without an ID card or Elster certificate, you will also receive a pin from the university or school, which is also entered on the first page. The next click takes you to BundID, you get in touch there with the previously selected method and the actual application page opens. The rest is quick: Enter your account number, tick a few boxes, such as: “I certify that I am only applying for the one-time payment (…) once” and send. The money will then be transferred at some point.
The exact procedure for everyone has not yet been determined. Changes are still possible. On March 15th, applications should be possible everywhere. That was agreed with the federal states, according to the Federal Ministry of Education.
