Administrative reforms accelerate thanks to “four on-the-spots” method

(LSO) – Many administrative procedures in the field of business registration authorised to be performed by the Department of Planning and Investment have been done at the province’s public administrative service centre following the “four on-the-spots” approach.

The “four on-the-spots” method refers to four stages of handling a public administrative procedure, including receiving the enquiry, verfifying the enquiry, approving and returning the result; all of which are implemented at a single location.

The department is currently authorised to handle 131 administrative procedures. Since the beginning of 2019, the department has coordinated with the province’s public administrative service centre to apply the “four on-the-spots” method in settling 60 out of 80 types of administrative procedures in business registration. Accordingly, an application can be lodged to the department’s division for business registration. The division will receive, verify and approve the application and return the result at the reception counter of the centre.

The approach provides a closed system for dealing with an administrative procedure, from receiving application to returning result, said Vy Thuy Nga, head of the Department of Planning and Investment’s division for business registration.

A business representative files a business registration application to be handled by the “four on-the-spots” method at the provincial administrative centre.

Citing the procedure of registering a new business as an example, she said after receiving an application with complete papers, the receptionist will transfer the application to the division’s leaders who will assign a staff member to handle it. After processed, the application will be submitted again to the division’s leaders and information on the application will be transfered to the tax authority with request to issue a tax code. Once the tax code is issued, the division’s leaders will sign a decision to grant a business registration certificate to the applicant.

The approach helps cut the processing time of handling an application, she noted.

Among 60 business registration procedures handled with the “four on-the-spots” method, 12 have the processing time cut by 1 – 3 working days per procedure. For example, the procedure to change a member of a business partnership has its processing time reduced from 3 days to 1 day only; the procedure to convert a private company into a limited liability company can now be completed in 2 days instead of 5 days as before; and the processing time for re-granting cooperative registration certificate was cut from 5 days to 3 days.

Thanks to the approach, results of most of the business registration applications have been returned on time or ahead of schedule.

According to the public administrative service centre, it has so far returned results for 1,565 out of 1,575 business registration applications since the beginning of 2019. Of the applications, 1,388 (88.7 percent) had results returned ahead of schedule; 175 (11.2 percent) on time while only two applications were overdue.

The method has helped bolster administrative reforms, significantly reduced processing time and promoted transparency, benefiting local businesses and people.

Cam Manh Dan from TNH Export-Import Service and Trading Ltd Co in Lang Son City said the on-the-spot settlement of applications not only helps us cut waiting time but also allows us to get careful explanation and neccessary information from the staff here. “I am very pleased with this way of working,” he added.

As requested by the provincial People’s Committee, provincial departments and agencies as well as district-level people’s committees have been reviewing and selecting administrative procedures under their competence for handling using the “four on-the-spots” method.

Deputy head of the Office of the provincial People’s Committee and Director of the public administrative service centre Pham Hung Truong said in the coming time, the office will continue providing instructions and urge the provincial departments and agencies as well as district people’s committees to select procedures suitable for the method. The centre will also provide all possible conditions in terms of equipment for offices and units to apply the method for the benefit of local people, he noted./.