Student energy price flat-rate law is the awkward word that promises 55 points in Scrabble and 200 euros for students. It is the government’s answer to rising energy costs, which of course also affect the mostly less affluent students and vocational school students. But although it only takes a few clicks to receive the payout, one in four has not yet applied for the money. The deadline for this is the end of September.
Contrary to the name of the law, not only students but also (vocational) technical students are entitled to the money. The decisive factor is that they were enrolled in their educational institution on December 1, 2022. In total, the Bundestag is providing around 680 million euros for the 2.95 million students and 450,000 technical students.
If you want to pay, you have to apply for it yourself. Because unlike pensioners, neither the state nor the universities have data on their bank accounts. The money can therefore not simply be transferred, this also applies to Bafög recipients. Most of the students have already submitted their application. A month before the end of the application period, 2.7 million, i.e. 76 percent, requested their payment. Conversely, this means that every fourth person has not submitted an application and will possibly miss out on 200 euros. Extrapolated, 140 million euros would not be distributed. The question is: If it’s that easy, why doesn’t everyone get the 200 euros with a few clicks?
Why not all students apply for the 200 euro payment
Some of the 3.5 million affected will probably no longer have it on their screens. Almost half of the students submitted the application within the first two weeks after the start of the period. At the time, the topic was topical and therefore fresh in people’s minds. Some universities sent students the access data by email, while others had the information on their website. But it should also happen that e-mails go under.
Especially at the beginning of the payout, memes circulated on the net, i.e. small videos and pictures that talked about how complicated and cumbersome the process was. Sometimes the necessary fields could not be filled out, sometimes the process broke off, and again and again the website stopped completely. One or the other has probably capitulated in the face of the long waiting times with the intention of trying again later. And then just forget it.
At least today, on August 31st, 2023, everything seems to be working technically. The process is on the website www.einmalpayment200.de explained – in just four steps you should be able to apply for the money there.
How can I apply for the one-time payment?
You don’t need much for this: an access code and an account with BundID. All those eligible to apply should have received the access code from their training institution, either by email or using another online tool. Since the deadline on 15.03. started, it’s worth looking for emails from that time or checking the website.
Another possibility is the so-called BundID. An account can be opened quite quickly on id.bund.de. Either you register with your online ID, the EU identity card, the ELSTER certificate or initially only with a user name and password. The website recommends the option with the online ID, because the account can also be used for all other online applications. This can take a little longer and also requires more steps than the basic registration. If you just want to quickly apply for the 200 euros without an ELSTER certificate, online identity card or EU identity card, you can use the normal registration with “user name and password”. In this way, a PIN for the training center must be entered when applying for Eingeld200.de – this is sometimes in the same document as the access code.
You can call up the application with the access code (and PIN if necessary), log in with your BundID and fill in all the relevant data. The form can then be sent. It may take a little while for the money to land in your own account after you have applied for it. But if you register before October 1st, you should receive the 200 euros.