How many times have you visited the National Insurance, Income Tax or VAT"And did you feel (to put it mildly) that things could be a little more efficient? How many times have you found yourself looking for someone who knows someone with a fax machine who can send you some form to some official? How many times did you have to spice up the pleasure with a phone call and waiting for a representative to make sure the fax arrived safely? Well, the year 2016 has finally arrived at the government offices as well.
Soon, all government offices will be obliged to also offer communication methods by email and not only by the notorious fax. Behind the welcome initiative stands the Minister for Social Equality, Gila Gamliel (Likud). Minister Gamliel passed the decision in the Committee of Ministers and its meaning is that all government offices will publish an e-mail address as a means of contact. Yes, next to the facsimile.
"good time", Minister Gamliel said after the proposal was approved, "The decision will reduce the bureaucratic burden and significantly improve the service to the citizen. There is no doubt that this decision will make life easier for all of us, save time and resources, and above all, provide better service". The minister did add that"We will keep the option to continue sending applications by fax in the future as well", but it is also clear to her that"You can say with a smile that we sent the fax on its way".
When surfers can contact by email, they do it en masse
There is almost no need to say much about the good news behind the move. A study carried out by the Ministry of Justice checked and found that when a government office allows applications by both fax and e-mail, 80% of applicants prefer the digital option. Only 20% continue to keep faith with the good old fax.
It is important to note that while Minister Gamliel is reaping the benefits, the original proposal for the fax law was sown by another member of the Knesset, Stav Shapir from the Zionist camp. H"Ka Shafir welcomed the decision and said that it is surprising to see that it is Israel that is proud of its existence "The startup nation", no one in the public sector has heard of such a thing called the Internet.
"Who doesn't know the frustrating feeling of wasting work time looking for an outdated means of communication?", presents H"As a benign rhetorical question, "Israel is finally joining the third millennium and its citizens will receive better service in the public sector". By the way, H"As Shafir points out that in the next step it intends to expand the obligation to accept emails as documents also in private entities such as insurance companies, banks and the like.
.jpg "Knesset member Shapir's post")
The government office that stopped receiving emails due to excess inquiries
H"As Shafir shares on her Facebook page two funny anecdotes about the way of the hatthams that led to the fax bill. During the drafting of the original bill a year ago, says H"As Shafir, a team led by her conducted an anonymous check with government ministries regarding the possibility of sending an application by email. In one of the cases, the official in the government office said that in the past it was possible to submit an application by email but because they were submitted "Too many requests" It was decided to go back and harass the public with the fax. H"As Shafir even writes that she was sure that in the Israel of 2016 the law would pass easily and peacefully'Yak C'K, but it was probably an excessive ambition. According to her, the law encountered some fascinating objections such as "The internet is not secure" And the amazing argument of "Switching to email takes time" (what?).