Last updated 5. March 2025 | Sprecherinnen

Dear student,

Perhaps some of you have already noticed, others may not. When preparing the annual financial statements for the student budget, the student body noticed a loss of €112,264.95. We are aware of the extent of the error and would therefore like to explain in the following statement how it came about, why it was not noticed earlier and what the current status is to avert this damage.

As we first wanted to inform the members of the student parliament in detail about the damage, we are only now (after the meeting of the student parliament) contacting you as a student.

1. What is the semester ticket and how is the fee made up?

When enrolling at the University of Lüneburg, all full-time and part-time students receive the semester ticket (for transportation and culture). For the summer semester 2021, for example, all students will pay € 158.30 for the semester ticket.

A detailed breakdown of the costs for the summer semester 2021 looks like this:

• Nationwide semester ticket: € 139.20
• HVV: 19,10 €
• CityBike: 1,50 €
• Wheel storage: 1,25 €
• Semester ticket for culture: € 1.00

Since 2017, we have been part of the state-wide semester ticket for Lower Saxony and Bremen. The idea for this ticket came from the VerkehrsLandesAStenKonferenz (VLAK). It coordinates the ticket and negotiates the contracts. In addition to the AStA of the University of Lüneburg, 32 universities are part of this semester ticket and the VLAK. They all pay a sum to Niedersachsentarif GmbH (NITAG) depending on the number of students. This company has a certain formula for calculating how much money each individual rail transport company receives.

2. How did the damage occur?

Once a semester, the student body reports the student numbers from the previous semester to Niedersachsentarif GmbH (NITAG) so that they can invoice the transport companies for the contribution.

This is precisely where an error occurred, as this deadline of 30.04.2020 was missed and no student numbers from the 2019/2020 winter semester were reported to NITAG. NITAG now used the figures from the previous semester (winter semester 2018/2019) including a 10% increase for invoicing and not the actual student figures for the winter semester 2019/2020. This resulted in a shortfall of €112,264.95. At the time of the deadline on 30.04.2020, the focus was on dealing with pandemic challenges. This is not intended to justify the missed deadline, only to explain it. There was no reminder, request or similar to subsequently report the figures to NITAG. Furthermore, the error was not noticed when the invoice was issued. In contrast to invoices from other transport companies, no student numbers or references to the higher claim are shown on the invoice in this case. This made the audit extremely difficult.

The bill was paid from the student body’s reserves.

3. What happens now? Can the damage still be repaired?

Following the discovery of the damage, various measures have already been taken, which will be outlined here shortly:

1. First of all, contact was made with NITAG to discuss the damage and specify the options for action. In the process, an error made by NITAG was identified and rectified. This has already reduced the amount of damage. We are also in talks with NITAG to possibly obtain reimbursement of a further portion of the loss.

2. Discussions were also held with the internal audit department, the legal department and the university’s Executive Board in order to jointly consider how the damage can be averted.

3. In addition, the Finance Department and the AStA spokespersons are in talks with the property insurance company to clarify whether the financial loss is covered by the insurance.

4. In addition, the internal processes were reflected upon and changed in order to prevent similar errors in the future.

The aim is still to avert the damage completely. We are trying with all the means at our disposal to return the money to the student body’s account.

In its meeting on 10.03.21, the StuPa unanimously decided that “The student parliament […] the transparent presentation of the damage process by the AStA [begrüßt] and […] expressly expresses its will not to increase the semester fee due to the damage and thus not to pass it on to all students [bekundet].”

4. Does the mistake have personal consequences for me as a student, e.g. increase in semester fees?

No. As stated in the resolution of the student parliament (see point 3), the damage will NOT be compensated by an increase in the semester fee.

Below you will find the excerpt from the annual financial statement, in which the topic is explained again. If you have any further questions, please contact us or the StuPa chair.