Enforcement and Collection Authority report: Sharp increase of 80% in public complaints

The Enforcement and Collection Authority published today (Sunday) the Public Complaints Report for 2020, which shows that there was a sharp increase of 80% in public complaints compared to the previous year. In 2020, the Authority handled 1,750 complaints, compared to 978 complaints in 2019 and 826 complaints in 2018 .
The Authority notes that the increase is probably due to the corona crisis and the distress of debtors, as well as due to the reduction in the reception of the public in the enforcement bureaus. Of the total complaints examined, 15% were justified compared to 18% last year.
The report also shows that despite the jump in the number of complaints received, the average handling time for a standard complaint was 4.89 days in 2020 compared to 7.19 days in 2019, a decrease of 32%.
The Center for the Collection of Fines, which also collects Corona reports, examined 551 inquiries in 2020 that were classified by me as their senders as complaints. Of the referrals that were indeed complaints, 32 complaints were found to be justified and 18 complaints were found to be partially justified.
The Authority states that the Enforcement and Collection Authority considers public complaints to be an important tool, which enables the customers' needs to be identified and assisted if necessary, and works to improve the relationship with the customer base. In addition, the handling of public complaints often helps the authority identify vulnerabilities in the system and act to correct them.
According to the director of the Authority's audit department, Adi Shaharur, this is an "opportunity for the Enforcement and Collection Authority to receive feedback from the public. Every year, the department receives many complaints by mail, fax, email, telephone or on the website. The number of complaints received by the PA regarding the number of cases is very low, which indicates professionalism in the PA's work. "