Students in Nijmegen will not be able to apply for a deposit on their energy allowance at the municipality anymore. Alderman John Brom thinks that the regulation has become redundant, since national compensation lies ahead.

Students that live in Nijmegen can’t get a 500 euro deposit on their energy allowance as of now. It is no longer necessary, as national compensation is introduced this year. But: if this law is cancelled, students can contact the municipality again.

National law

That is what Alderman John Brom (Stadspartij) says in response to questions asked by GroenLinks council member Sander van der Goes together with PvdA, D66 and GewoonNijmegen.Nu. The council members requested clarifications from the alderman. The municipality communicated earlier this week that students won’t be able to apply for a deposit on their energy allowance anymore. They could get the money, 500 euros, until last Tuesday, based on the legislation of 2022 and awaiting a national law for it.

Nijmegen will stop the deposit since a national law lies ahead. With this, students who moved out and are eligible for a supplementary grant via the Dienst Uitvoering Onderwijs (DUO), will receive a one-time 400 euros compensation. Because of that, municipal compensation is no longer needed.

New cabinet

According to the council members, there is a risk that due to the fall of the cabinet, the national law will not make it through. In the second week of September it will be revealed whether the law will be discussed in the Second Chamber, they note. There is a chance that the subject will be ‘declared controversial’. If so, the law will not be addressed until a new cabinet is formed.

‘We understand that there shouldn’t be double compensation. But we feel that they are very much getting ahead of things’, says Van der Goes.

‘If the law is cancelled, we will open the municipal counter again at the end of this year’

Brom thinks that the law will come about this year, as he doesn’t expect the law to be declared controversial. That is why applying for compensation is no longer allowed, also to prevent students from receiving money from the municipality and from DUO later this year. ‘If the law is cancelled, we will open the municipal counter again at the end of this year’, says Brom.

Students who already received the deposit, don’t have to pay it back. For non-students, the energy allowance this year will be 1300 euros again. Those who already received the deposit of 500 euros, can expect a subsequent payment of 800 euros later this year.

This article by Mitchel Suijkerbuijk appeared earlier in De Gelderlander (in Dutch).