Emergency aid for gas and district heating customers in December
There has been a lot of discussion in the Bundestag in recent weeks about relieving gas customers. Ultimately, it was decided to provide emergency aid for private customers and small businesses that use gas or district heating.
In concrete terms, this means that the state will pay the down payment once in December.
If the provider usually collects the discount, customers do not have to take over anything. The December deduction will not be withdrawn. If customers normally transfer the advance payment, they can cancel the order for December.
Unfortunately, tenants who bill their landlords for gas or district heating may have to be patient. They do not receive their emergency aid in December, but as a credit with the next utility bill
Retirees receive an energy allowance
Various energy flat rates have been agreed as part of the relief packages, one of which is due in the last month of the year.
Almost 20 million people in Germany receive a statutory old-age, reduced earning capacity, orphan’s or widow’s pension or pension payments under the Civil Service and Soldiers’ Pensions Act. They can look forward to an energy flat rate of over 300 euros, which will be paid out by December 15th.
Nationwide warning day on December 8th
At 11 a.m. on December 8th, it gets loud for German mobile phone users: A loud signal tone sounds on the smartphone and a warning SMS flashes. This is a disaster drill controlled by the Cell Broadcast system.
Mobile phone users in 294 administrative districts and 107 urban districts received the warning. The exercise is automatic, no app needs to be downloaded.
New timetable and new prices at Deutsche Bahn
the Deutsche Bahn publishes its new winter timetable on December 11th. The main change here is the number of journeys and trains.
Thanks to the new high-speed route between Wendlingen and Ulm, not only are more journeys offered, but connections between Cologne and Munich are around 15 minutes faster.
The new ICE 3neo will also be used on the route between Munich, Cologne and Dortmund.
60 percent more seats on the route from Munich to Frankfurt Airport via Ulm and Stuttgart and on the route from Bremen to Cologne via Osnabrück and Münster bring relief for rail customers.
Important in December: by then, the Christmas mail will be delivered on time
Deutsche Post and DHL have published their deadlines for the Christmas mail to arrive on time:
- Letters and postcards can still be mailed on December 22 for punctual delivery within Germany. Within Europe, Christmas mail should be sent by December 14th and outside of Europe by December 7th at the latest
- For parcels, the deadlines are December 20th for shipping within Germany, December 12th for shipping within Europe and November 29th for shipping outside of Europe
Change in December: Professional hair removal only with license
The Federal Office for Radiation Protection has decreed that from December 31, beauticians may only remove hair by laser or IPL if they can present proof of specialist knowledge.
In addition, the devices must be registered with the authorities before they are used for the first time.
You can read about what has changed in the last few months here.