An electronic platform that will allow ordinary citizens to assess and give ratings to public services is to be launched for the first time in the coming week, in a measure that the government hopes will transform the relationship between citizens and the state. The initiative is launched by the interior ministry and the digital governance ministry and creates the first organised mechanism for the assessment of public services by the citizens themselves.  
From next Wednesday and for two weeks, five million people over 17 whose contact details are in the National Communications Register will have the opportunity to evaluate the quality of the services provided by central government agencies and local government. They will be invited via e-mail to reply to 40-50 questions, giving a score between 1 and 10 for levels of service, speed, politeness and efficiency, while they will also be able to make observations.
The platform's web address is to be announced next Wednesday and will be accessible with the user name and password for gov.gr, to ensure that each 'vote' is unique.
Members of the public will be asked for their rating and assessment of central government agencies such as the Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE), the Public Employment Agency or the EFKA social insurance agency, among others, while emphasis will be placed on services provided by municipal authorities, such as street lighting, recycling, greenspaces, sanitation, roads, pavements and others. There will also be two questions allowing observations and proposals, one regarding which services they would like to see digitalised and a second that is open.
Once the questionnaire is completed, the replies will be separated from the identity of the respondents and collected and processed "like a massive opinion poll on daily life," Interior Minister Thodoris Livanios commented, adding that the data will be made accessible to the public in May.
The process will then be repeated twice a year, every April and October, to identify problems and make improvements. The next stage in evaluation is due to be introduced in October and will involve each user of public services, from hospitals to Citizen Service Centres, receiving a QR code that gives access to an electronic platform for the immediate assessment of each transaction.
An evaluation of state services by users is considered necessary in order to address the long-standing problems of public administration, such as bureaucracy and time-consuming procedures. The effort was first launched in the 2000s through surveys and complaint/suggestion platforms, was made more systematic via the Citizen Service Centres, while the gov.gr platform allows citizens to give ratings to digital services.
Based on studies carried out so far, the public tends to give good ratings to the services that have been modernised, such as Citizen Service Centres and gov.gr, and poor ratings to those where they must go in person, wait in line and carry out transactions with paper documents.