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The following electronic communication rules apply to legally binding electronic communication with the City of Bonn.
1. opening access for electronic communication
The City of Bonn offers you the opportunity to communicate electronically with the city administration. In the area of administrative procedures, electronic communication is governed by Section 3a of the Administrative Procedure Act of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia (VwVfG NW). According to this, the transmission of electronic documents is permitted as long as the recipient provides access for this purpose. According to § 126a of the German Civil Code (BGB), the same applies in private law.
The City of Bonn provides this access in accordance with the following general conditions, which only apply to communication with the City of Bonn and not to third parties (linked institutions, other authorities, etc.).
Form-free e-mails can be sent to all e-mail addresses published on this website or indicated on letters from the city administration. We also offer you the option of using interactive online forms for numerous requests.
For formal communication (where your handwritten signature is required by law), you must provide your document or e-mail with a so-called qualified electronic signature in accordance with Section 2 (1) No. 2 of the Signature Act (SigG).
The following e-mail address is exclusively available for signed and/or encrypted e-mails and attachments: vpsbonnde
Please note that we only accept encrypted e-mails at this e-mail address for data protection reasons.
Unencrypted e-mails are not considered to comply with the communication rules and will not be processed further.
3. formats
If you would like to transfer or send files to the administration, please note that not all common file formats and applications on the market are supported. The following file formats can currently be processed:
- Text and rich text files (*.txt, *.rtf, *.csv) - JPEG, PNG, GIF and BMP graphic files (*.jpg, *.jpeg, *.png, *.gif, *.bmp) - Adobe PDF (*.pdf) - Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint files from version 2007 (*.docx, *.xlsx, *.pptx)
Please also use the above formats if you create documents with alternative Office packages. Data-compressed files from packing programs (e.g. *.zip, *.rar, *.7z, *.tar.gz) cannot be accepted.
Incoming e-mails go through a multi-stage filtering process at the City of Bonn. If your e-mail contains viruses or other malware or is identified as spam by the software, it will be automatically deleted without notification to the sender or recipient.
The total size of e-mails to the city administration - including all attachments - is limited to 20 MB. Larger e-mails cannot be accepted.
4. encryption of your documents
However, if you wish to send us a legally binding e-mail, further encryption is mandatory. To do this, you will need a signature card, which you can obtain from a certification service provider (see also point 5.).
Please note that such signed and encrypted e-mails can only be received at the following address: vpsbonnde
Should difficulties arise during decryption, we will contact you immediately if you can be identified as the sender.
5. qualified electronic signature
A qualified electronic signature(QES) is a form of electronic communication regulated by EU regulations that is based on a qualified certificate. It is the only way to replace a handwritten signature in a legally secure and electronic manner.
The QES may only be issued by a qualified trust service provider (in Germany, for example, Bundesdruckerei, Deutsche Post, Deutsche Telekom) that has been certified by government-approved bodies.
An overview of existing trust service providers within the EU can be found here (opens in a new tab).
6. further information and contact
Further information on this topic and overviews of certification service providers can be found on the Federal Network Agency's website.
Notices issued by the City of Bonn contain information in the legal notice that objections can be lodged in writing or for the record.
It is also pointed out that an objection can be lodged electronically. It is therefore becoming increasingly common for the City of Bonn to receive objections from citizens by (simple or encrypted) email - addressed to the email address vpsbonnde specified in the notice. However, this form of transmission is not sufficient to submit a legally binding objection!
The current legal situation only allows two ways in which a declaration of intent can be transmitted electronically in a legally binding manner:
The objection is sent by De-Mail in the send variant with confirmed secure registration in accordance with Section 5 (5) of the De-Mail Act, as also stated in the legal notice. The receiving De-Mail address of the City of Bonn is: poststellebonn.de-mailde
The objection can be raised by sending an electronic document with a qualified electronic signature (QES) to the electronic mailroom of the City of Bonnvpsbonnde.
A qualified electronic signature is a form of electronic communication regulated by EU regulations that is based on a qualified certificate. It enables all citizens to replace a handwritten signature in a legally secure and electronic manner.
The QES may only be issued by a qualified trust service provider (in Germany, for example, Bundesdruckerei, Deutsche Post, Deutsche Telekom) that has been certified by state-appointed bodies. An overview of existing trust service providers within the EU can be found at the Federal Network Agency (opens in a new tab).