site.btaProposed Amendments to e-Government Act Further Ease Access to Administrative e-Services 

Proposed amendments to e-government legislation further ease access to administrative electronic services. One amendment envisages that electronic services will be available to individuals even when they don’t have electronic signature. The bill of amendments has been published for public consultation.

 Writing about the changes in a Facebook post, e-Government Minister Bozhidar Bozhanov said that to obtain an e-service, one will only need to log in with a means of electronic identification with an appropriate level of security and submit the application by filling in an online form, without the need for a flash drive or another device. 

Qualified electronic signatures will continue to be used but will no longer be required for access to administrative e-services.

Bozhanov says that the draft amendment address key issues that currently hinder the introduction of real e-government. 

They introduce aligned standards for the information collected ex officio with a certificate that is required by law, so that the various administrations can be sure they comply with the requirements of the specific laws under which they operate. As municipality will lose revenues when municipal services become electronic, the government will make sure they are adequately compensated for their loss of revenue, said Bozhanov.

The fees for administrative services are to be reduced when they become electronic. 

People who do not use IT can still use the e-services through intermediaries and these could be Bulgarian Post, libraries and anyone with offices close to citizens, including in remote locations. It means that people will not have to travel to a regional centre or to the other end of the country to request an administrative service, the Minister said.

The revisions fulfill a commitment this country has made with its National Recovery and Resilience Plan. “I believe the amendments are important, unlock e-government, reduce red tape and for this reason will hopefully get parliamentary support even in the complex political situation," says e-Government Minister Bozhidar Bozhanov.