The number of e-government tools is growing in Armenia. One of the Government’s next steps is to have surveys electronically. It saves the government and its citizens the cost and time of sending and receiving applications in comparison to the process of mail inquiry.

According to Deputy Minister of Justice, Suren Krmoyan, the idea of creating a single e-request platform, e-request, was brought up in 2015, when the freedom of information law sub-legislative acts were in the process of being reformed.

“In line with the development of technology, we tried to create a few tools, which will enable us to send applications and receive answers without any material costs,” said the Deputy Minister.

E-request.am allows citizens to send an online application, request or complaint to any state body, as well as track its progress.

The website has three languages, Armenian, English and Russian. There are also statistics as to how many people have applied to which state body, how many of them were requests, applications, or complaints, etc.

The Deputy Minister says that the website is still in its experimental phase, however, every letter sent and received by this system reaches its intended addressee.

“From now on, we are also going to have statistics from all ministries. E-request.am will be available on ministry websites, through which the statistics on all applications will appear on the unified platform,” says Krmoyan.

The number of applications through the electronic platform is still small, as it is still new and in its experimental phase.

Suren Krmoyan considers it important that it is possible in this platform to rate the responses to the applications, how timely the response was, and how satisfactory the response was in terms of content. “It will give an opportunity to evaluate the work of the government, different bodies of the Prime Minister and civil society, to manage these surveys, have accurate statistics, compare with other ministries, etc..”

Another e-governance tool, e-hotline. It has been created by the Ministry of Justice with the goal of responding more effectively to problems, complaints and requests raised by citizen and organizations.

This e-hotline will give citizens the opportunity to get the answers to their pressing questions, submit a complaint, as well as sign up to make an appointment for a reception at the Justice Department, all online.

Citizens can call the short number 85-00, make a web call through the website, or simply enter the application section and write about their complaint or question. In the last case, the operator contacts the citizen within a few minutes.

The website also has a section for services and frequently asked questions. Suren Krmoyan says that aside from information about the services provided, citizens can find the answers to the questions they are interested in by visiting the frequently asked questions page, without having to call the hotline. “As a rule, if the same question is asked more than 5 times through the hotline, the answer to that question is included in that section of the website,” says the Deputy Minister.

According to the statistics from the platform, the majority of citizens still call the short number, however the number of web callers is growing.

It’s also important that the website has Russian and English versions. That, according to the Deputy Minister, has a tendency to improve the investment field. “We find that the register, notary services should also be available in other languages as well.”

Anahit Danielyan