Asva loses court case over energy surcharge for Amsterdam students
Amsterdam wants students to first borrow extra money from DUO to compensate for any increased energy costs before they can claim the energy allowance. An application is also possible only if the energy contract is in the student's name. On Tuesday, the court ruled in favor of the municipality of Amsterdam.
Asva had filed the lawsuit on behalf of two students from Amsterdam along with eight more students represented by the law firm Legal Advice Wanted (LAW). The student union believed it was unfair that students were excluded from the energy surcharge when they were just as likely to spend more on energy costs as anyone else.
Another earlier court case in Amsterdam brought by LAW was decided in favor of the students in February. The judge found that the municipality could not properly justify why students were excluded from applying for the energy surcharge.
As a result, the city of Amsterdam adjusted its conditions on March 17 of this year. For example, the ruling requires that students have an energy contract in their name. This way it can be verified that it is indeed the student who is making payments for the energy.
The ability to borrow additional money from DUO is also taken into consideration when considering whether a student can claim the energy allowance. Not how much the student actually borrows is considered, but how much the student could borrow.
Asva thought this was not reasonable, so they went to court. That court has now ruled in favor of the city of Amsterdam. The student union says it is “disappointed” with the ruling. “We will be discussing this,” said Bor van Zeeland of the Asva. “Simply put: the city's adjustment solves nothing. Most students do not have an energy contract in their name. Look at the students who live in the ACTA building. They don't have their name on an energy contract, but their energy costs went up by €160 per person per month. They are out of luck. And so we remain defiant and are considering appealing.”
Do students now have no chance of receiving the energy allowance at all? The students who met the adjusted conditions stipulated by the policy measure have since received positive notification from the city. Minister Carola Schouten also firmly promised in July that a select group of students would receive a one-time payment of €400. But this only applies to students living away from home with a supplementary grant. “And that group is relatively small,” Van Zeeland said. “In particular, students who fall under the loan system and no longer receive a performance grant are pretty much missing out on this.”
According to the city of Amsterdam, students who cannot make ends meet due to increased expenses can still apply for individual special assistance. “But in practice, this turns out to be rather difficult as the conditions are strict,” says Van Zeeland. “We have not yet succeeded in obtaining an allowance for a student through this route.”
