Obergerichtsvollzieher - Yet another strange incident

Recently I got a letter from ‘Obergerichtsvollzieher’- Law Prosecutor stating I have to pay certain amount of money otherwise I will be prosecuted. I was shell shocked by that letter because I was wondering I never had any debts and never took any credits. There was an appointment in the letter that Obergerichtsvollzieher will come to explain the reason why should I pay that amount and so on. Unfortunately it was Christmas time and I had to wait nearly two weeks for that appointment. It was always lingering on my mind what could be the reasons for it? In meantime, I checked with my Bank, housing agents and everybody declared that I had no debts and credits.

So the day arrived when old fat guy with gigantic look entered my house. He said I need to pay around 950 euros to Institute for Statistic Department, Aurich, Niedersachsen. I asked the reason why should I pay such an amount of money to them? He said it’s related to Micro Census and he asked me to contact that department for further queries and he left the house. The statistics department said I didn’t answer the questions which they posted to me by letter and it’s mandatory that every person living in Germany after receiving this letter must answer this question. There is a law that if you neglect to answer, necessary legal actions can be taken.

Now I remembered that I got so many times letter from Statistic Department with some questions. I neglected them simply because I thought it’s not mandatory to answer those questions and it’s left to the discretionary of the person whether to answer it or not. The questions were like how much sq m2 is the apartment and how much is the income in the family and so on. It seems the Statistic Department chooses 1% from the total population randomly and sends these letters. It seems there was a big protest in Germany in 1989 that it should not be made mandatory to answer those questions. Law was passed in 2009 that it’s a must to answer those questions.

I was just wondering Germans are so introvert people that they can’t allow the Google maps to publish their houses and streets, then how come they allow to give all the information about the income, size of the apartment and so on. That was the main reason why I simply neglected those letters. I called the Statistics Department and explained the situation that I was not aware of the fact that those questions have to be answered mandatorily. Sorry for neglecting those letters. I can give the information straight away. They were so kind enough to accept my offer and one can give information also by telephone and I gave all the information what they needed.

Regarding the fine, they said they can reduce the price from 950 to 200 Euros because 200 Euros is for the processing fee for Obergerichtsvollzieher. I felt really bad why I should pay even 200 Euros for giving my information to the state. I was consulting my mentor Harald and he advised me to talk to the Statistic Department and also gave an idea if they are so adamant say you will go to Hamburger Abendblatt, famous newspaper in Northern Germany. I adopted the same strategy and called the Statistic Department and they said they will get back to me in few days. After few days, they called me and said we will close this matter and please don’t neglect these letters in the future and provide all the information.

Thank god I was totally escaped from paying first 950 Euros and then 200 Euros. I can understand Census plays an important role in measuring the growth of the nation. As a responsible citizen, I don’t want to shy away from Census. But what wonders me is how can 1% of the Population give them a good picture of the nation. Whatever little statistics I have learnt, how come 1% of the sample population be effective. It really puzzles me to the core. Why can’t they do it more transparent and do it to all 100% of the population.

Lessons learned out of this situation:
1. Never ignore the official letters from the state.
2. Taking proactive measures in diplomatic way always helps.
3. Most importantly learning and speaking German in German society helps a lot.

Cheers,
Sathish Kumar S