Mahmoud Ahmad
We have to admit that ever since the government departments introduced e-system to complete various transactions, life for many people has become easy here. If a person 10 years ago was told that such an advanced system would exist to a level that he would be able to issue the exit-entry visa for his worker from his mobile phone with a click of a button, he would have laughed it off.
Another person, if he was told a decade back that he would be able to renew his driver’s license, passport, car registration or even certificates online from the comfort of his/her home, would have sarcastically laughed at the deliverer of this news and called him a dreamer.
The same effect would have been evident on the person if told that most money transaction would be effected with a click of a key, including the fact that the person would not have to stand in long queues to pay a simple utility bill when it could be done online or through a phone application. Most would have either viewed these utopian scenarios with skepticism or with a shrug that if it happens then well and good.
Today the same people, who had believed the simplification of various services as a dream, are the ones impatient or angry if they encounter a roadblock in the ease of getting things done. E-services have become a boon for people, but as with all technology there are limits. A technical glitch can throw the whole system awry, and with it comes a host of issues.
E-system, which was introduced to phase out paperwork and the legendary green file, has to rely on these again when there is system failure or an involuntary human error. E-system should have eliminated the running around to get this paper, print a document or make a photocopy of something. This, however, is not the case for many people I know, who have been running around from one government department to another to rectify the error caused by an electronic glitch in the system that should have made their life easier, but in this case made it difficult.
A businesswoman running a beauty salon in Madinah sent one of her female workers on final exit. All papers were formalized and the worker left for her home country. As the case should have been this person’s name should have been cleared from the system. This, however, did not happen as her name was not dropped from the Labor Ministry’s record. The businesswoman had to run from one government department to another stating an obvious case that was not accepted by the system. What made matters worse was that her account was frozen until the problem was solved. She could not do anything as everything was brought to a standstill between the passport and labor departments passing the buck on the onus of clearing the issue.
In the end, someone told her to pay the worker’s social insurance and issue a working card for her in order to unfreeze her account until she would be able to solve the problem later, which she did. She had to pay fees for a worker who was enjoying her time back home and only existed in name in the system. After writing many letters appealing her case to the department concerned, she told me, that she had to fly to Riyadh and meet with the head of passport department to solve the issue once and for all, which he did with a click of a key.
Another case of an e-system glitch that caused issues happened to my father when the system placed his domestic help as a teacher in a printing press. The funny thing here is that she is not a Saudi and definitely not a teacher in a printing press. These two points I thought was a slam dunk case that could be solved in seconds, as I had proof of those facts. But I ended up wiser after a series of shunts to various departments, as I represented my father in Jeddah.
Since both the passport and Labor Ministry are not connected electronically, I was told to go and get proof from the passport department that the problem was not of their making. After lots of to and fro between departments, the simple problem was not solved and I was told that the ministry is waiting for a committee to meet and decide over the issue of people transferred by mistake to local businesses when they are under the sponsorship of individuals. In the meantime, the account is frozen and the problem is still lingering.
For another person, the e-system resurrected people who had died many years ago. A businessman was shocked when his account was frozen because the system revived a person who had died more than 15 years ago. In fact, he was asked to renew his Iqama and pay for his social insurance in order to unfreeze the account. The businessman nearly lost his mind and he had to run from one place to another to provide proof that the person had died and he even brought a burial paper that he had kept in a safe box. It took a while to solve this problem, through which he had to go through a lot of hassle to solve this problem the old fashion way, using paperwork and running from one place to another.
We all understand that technical mistakes do happen and there is no problem with that. But when officials start asking people to resort to the old system of get this signature from the manager, provide them with copies of this and that, go and check with other ministries to solve issues then we have a problem. What good is a system that is aiming at getting things done with a click of a button if it cannot solve a problem that is created by this system with a click of a button.
Some people have suggested a middle option that if the problem was created by a ministry or a government department, then they should at least unfreeze the person’s account so that he would be able to go about his business and solve the problem in their own sweet time. Sadly that option does not exist.
The writer can be reached at [email protected]
Twitter: @anajeddawi_eng
