An RFID reading apparatus (18) for bin occupancy recognition in a shelf (10) is provided having at least one antenna (16), an RF transceiver (20) connected to the antenna (16), a control and evaluation unit (22) that is configured to communicate with an RFID transponder (24) by means of RFID signals via the RF transceiver (20) and the antenna (16), and having at least one additional sensor (24) for detecting objects at or in the shelf (10). In this respect, the control and evaluation unit (22) is configured to recognize and locally associate changes of the bin occupancy from a combination of information of the antenna (16) and information of the additional sensor (24).