10 Days Instead of a Month: How Communication with Government Institutions Will Change 0 9

Starting from March 1, institutions will have to respond to residents' inquiries within ten working days - this is half the previous deadline. Exceptions are allowed in more complex cases. Are the institutions ready for the upcoming changes? This was investigated by the program "TV3 Ziņas."

Previously, government institutions were required to respond to residents' applications no later than one month. The State Revenue Service (SRS), the largest government institution, is confident that adhering to the shortened deadline will not pose problems, as responses are usually provided within two weeks even now.

"We introduced a 14-day response time in our customer service standards some time ago. In more complex cases, we apply the legally established maximum period of 30 days. The main goal is to serve the client as quickly, efficiently, and qualitatively as possible," noted Uldis Rubežnieks, head of the legal department of the SRS.

The State Social Insurance Agency also assured that it is ready for the changes and has already streamlined internal processes to comply with the shortened response time. The agreement to shorten the response time for residents' applications was reached in the spring of last year as one of the measures to reduce bureaucratic burden. Institutions regularly reported to the State Chancellery on their preparations for the changes.

"The Ministry of Health reported that its subordinate institutions are already responding within approximately two to ten working days. Several institutions have implemented the so-called plain language principle. Others are considering expanding the practice of standard responses by identifying inquiries that can receive standard replies, thereby reducing their processing times," noted Ilona Eklona, head of the state administration policy department of the State Chancellery.