Performance of Hong Kong’s 1823 hotline not so hot
- The inefficiency and buck-passing culture revealed by the Ombudsman makes a mockery of the chief executive’s pledge of a “result-oriented” administration
Nothing is more frustrating than having one’s complaints and inquiries unanswered or tossed around.
This is sadly the case for some citizens when they call a one-stop hotline seeking to cut red tape across government departments. The inefficiency and buck-passing culture makes a mockery of the chief executive’s pledge of a “result-oriented” administration.
Credit goes to the Ombudsman for its in-depth investigation into the much-publicised 1823 hotline.
The portal, which acts as the switchboard for 23 government departments or agencies and a complaint platform for all services, handled an average of 1.9 million inquiries and 550,000 complaints every year between 2018 and 2023.
Hong Kong’s 1823 hotline failed to resolve public complaints properly: ombudsman
Impressive as it seems, the results still leave a lot to be desired. Of the cases received, about 7,400, or 1.4 per cent, needed to be processed by an “escalation mechanism”, which was activated after a complaint was rejected by two relevant departments.
The case would then be brought to officers of higher ranks for further action. Still, about 7.5 per cent of the cases remained unresolved for more than six months. Nearly 60 per cent took more than 30 days to handle.
For instance, a complaint against illegal construction waste disposal in 2020 was rejected by the Highways Department, Food and Environmental Hygiene Department and Lands Department respectively and was only resolved in a joint operation after four months.
Established and overseen by the Efficiency Office since 2001, the round-the-clock operating platform is committed to providing “efficient, effective and high quality service to the public”.
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But its 500 employees could only take 42 per cent of the calls it received every year, leaving about 2.5 million ones unanswered annually, according to the probe.
Wedged between aggrieved citizens and departments, those manning the hotline also have no power or control over the responses, or in the watchdog’s view “being stuck in a position with responsibility but no authority”.
We trust a considerable number of callers have got what they want with the hotline. To make it more helpful and effective, the government should review the mechanism and the workflow to further streamline and expedite the process.
