NEWS RELEASE 16.05.2022
The Foundation for the Defense of Citizens Against State Abuses (FACIAS) has released new findings on the duration of time citizens must wait on the phone to obtain information from government information offices.
Within the framework of the project "Hello, the Romanian State? Is someone there?!", FACIAS examines how citizens' right to access information of public interest is upheld, a fundamental right of citizen-to-public authorities connections. The project's findings suggest that this is one of the most commonly violated rights.
According to the data collected by FACIAS, there are a considerable number of government institutions that cannot be reached. Therefore, the following couldn't be contacted: DSP Bucharest, DSP Ilfov, Directorate of Driving Permits and Vehicle Registration Regime Bucharest (DRPCIV), Local Pension House - Sector 1, Pension Authority- Sector 2, Pension Authority - Sector 5, Pension Authority - Sector 6, Public Domain Administration Sector 1 could not be reached.
Even after hundreds of phone calls made on separate days, DSP Bucharest and DSP Ilfov were unable to be reached.
DRPCIV Bucharest is at the top of the list of institutions that citizens claim are impossible to contact. FACIAS representatives investigated and reached the same conclusion: establishing a telephone connection with DRPCIV Bucharest was unfeasible.
The scenario is similar in the case of Bucharest's Local Pension Authorities, which have been called more than ten times each without being able to reach an employee.
For example, calls to ADP Sector 1 were left on hold for tens of minutes before being answered.
These data support the findings of the project's preliminary reports, which revealed that the majority of the audited public institutions are impossible to contact.
In these circumstances, for a large number of Romanians who lack the abilities or resources to utilize the Internet, the only option is to be physically present in the offices of the institutions with whom they wish to communicate. At the same time, the institutions are breaking the legislation on public access to information.
FACIAS, according to its statutory purpose, but also through its constant activity over the past 14 years, defends the rights of citizens and seeks to ensure transparency in the functioning of state institutions as a principle of democracy and the rule of law.