Traffic jam in front of the registration office causes displeasure

Traffic jam in front of the registration office causes displeasure

Bamberg "how long will it take?", thomas waldschmidt asked himself. He stood in line for three hours in front of the registration office in ludwigstrabe. "An employee then, very relaxed, printed a number in my hand, number 48", says waldschmidt.

57-year-old hirschaider wanted to change his daughter's license plates in early july. He was assured on the phone that the situation was very relaxed and that no appointment was necessary. Then the unpleasant surprise: "turning into the parking lot I have already seen people standing and still thought to myself, aha a demo. The signs that the people were holding were not written signs, but car license plates", says waldschmidt. Since the beginning of the corona crisis, applicants have had to wait standing in front of the authority.

In june, klaus rakette also spent between three and four hours queuing for a registration: "it's eased up a bit in the meantime, but it's gotten worse again in the last few weeks." According to frank fortsch, the press spokesman for the bamberg district office, the renewed rush could not have been foreseen.

Traps have piled up

Between 1. January and 9. July, there were 14338 registrations in 2019, this year there were only 12 586. During the exit restrictions, only the most important requests – in addition to registrations, these also include deregistrations and changes to the keeper or technical data – were received and processed. As a result, a lot of traps had accumulated. "In the time around whitsun there were sometimes very long waiting times", says fortsch. There had been more admissions than at the same time the year before. According to the district office, the customer does not have to wait if he does not want to. It is possible to hand in the documents and pick them up the next day after they have been processed. "You can't get more burger-friendly than this", says the press officer. The administration's goal is to keep waiting times as short as possible, says.

Waited for the reduction?

The reason given by the district administration for the current longer waiting times is the lower value-added tax that has been in force since july 1. July. Frank fort suspects that car buyers waited to buy in the last two weeks before the vat cut.

However, this has not been confirmed in a random check at the admissions office. The waiting people did not postpone their visit to ludwigstrabe, neither because of corona, nor because of the value added tax. Rather, they are concerned with different concerns that have become acutely necessary.

Bodo (57) wanted to register the light motorcycle for his daughter, who has newly acquired the driving license, uwe (52) wants to have a sold oldtimer registered, and maximilian (20) has bought a car and wanted to deregister the previous owner – there are always similar, seasonal concerns that can be experienced on request. And the nervousness in view of the long waiting time is also noticeable. New driver's license holder paul (18) puts it in a nutshell: "i have to work and i've been waiting for half an hour, so i don't really have any time."

The reduction in value-added tax has not yet played a major role in the sale of cars. Thus, managing director andreas datscheg of the aventi car dealership explains that this decrease in the federal government has not yet led to higher sales figures. The sales figures had dropped by 25 percent during the corona crisis compared to the previous years.

Online appointments

Waldschmidt and rakette agree that an appointment system, which would also regulate the rush at the registration office of the city of bamberg, would be extremely useful at the district administration office and would greatly reduce waiting times. "An option for online registration would also be desirable", says waldschmidt.

At the district administration office, the introduction of the appointment system, which only existed during the lockdown, was not yet a topic last week, but now the authorities have relented: a digital appointment system is currently being discussed, fortsch was told. It should soon be possible to get an appointment in certain time slots via a web tool. In lichtenfels this was already possible. "Until that time comes, there will be no online appointments", says fortsch.

In addition, the administrative process is to be streamlined by making it possible to digitize administrative documents to a greater extent in the next few months. Anyone who wanted to re-register their vehicle could then upload the necessary documents themselves. The demands of thomas waldschmitt and klaus rakette were fulfilled – and three hours of waiting in line were a thing of the past.