153 helpline expected to receive one million calls by end of year

The government helpline 153 is expected to receive one million phone calls by the end of 2020, surpassing last year’s figure of 650,000 phone calls.

Public service Permanent Secretary Mario Cutajar said since its launch in mid-2017 the servizz.gov website generated nearly three million hits. 

He was speaking at a press conference inaugurating Servizz.gov’s central office in Mosta. 

Cutajar said servizz.gov was at the forefront of communication with the public and is available 24 hours a day, all year round. Servizz.gov has also added a chat feature on its website.

Cutajar said that more than 1,500 services were handled by the helpline. “The idea was for the office to be brought to customers, not the other way around,” he said.

Servizz.gov CEO Massimo Vella said the aim of the central office was to continue to improve the service, as well as maintaining an “excellent level of quality,” as it continues to expand.

Also in attendance, Prime Minister Robert Abela said servizz.gov was created with the public in mind. “After all, who are the clients? The people. They are at the centre of our politics, and the decisions we make,” Abela said.

He said that the service used to be complicated and inaccessible. “People would have to go to multiple offices in order to get anything done. Now, all that has changed,” he said, adding the service was a catalyst for change, and hoped it would be a benchmark for the private sector.