Move more services online

THE EDITOR, Madam:

IF I can say I hate something, it’s joining a line. When I have to do it to pay money, I get really cross because lines, especially in tax offices, are really crazy. Here comes COVID-19, and the lines at the tax office are even crazier. So I have to renew the registration on my car, and I have been getting a headache just thinking about the tax office.

I am suggesting that a way for payment for registering a vehicle to be handled could be for persons requiring the service to (a) scan and submit the required documents (insurance and fitness) and (b) pay the fee on their Tax Administration Jamaica (TAJ) account (establishing one at that point, if necessary).

MONITOR EMAIL ADDRESSES

TAJ would be required to (a) establish and provide a body to monitor the email address persons would send scanned documents to and (b) establish a collection point in the tax office where the person collecting could use their printed receipt, bypass the line, and be allowed to collect and sign.

The process has the added benefit of giving the Government email contacts for persons, access to their insurance papers, and, possibly, other information that would allow for linkages in NIDS. COVID-19 has provided Jamaica with an opportunity to move our people forward in the level of efficiency we currently bring to the processes and services we offer.

Let us not waste these opportunities but use them, instead, to reduce frustration among people who would like an easier way to complete the necessary activity of paying for goods and services.

NLC