Lynn: Bureaucracy costs NIS 10.4b, 2% of business product

The bureaucracy index indicates that the poor level of service provided by government ministries results in NIS 500 million lost production by the business sector
 
Chambers of Commerce president, Mr. Uriel Lynn, said last week that the quality of service provided by government ministries to the business sector is 22% lower than the quality of service provided by the business sector to their customers.
 
An index compiled by The Federation of Israeli Chambers of Commerce and Israeli consultancy and research institute Geocartography Knowledge Ltd. show that the bureaucracy index for the first quarter of 2009 stood at 6.35 points, down 4% from the 6.61 points for the preceding quarter.
 
Lynn noted that the bureaucracy index indicates that the poor level of service provided by government ministries results in NIS 500 million lost production by the business sector, due to the loss of 1.9 million work hours spent by businesses waiting for service. The average time spent by businesses waiting in line or for a telephone to be answered is 40 minutes.
 
Lynn estimates that the actual damage to the economy caused by bureaucratic red tape and the inefficiency of regulatory agencies at NIS 10.4 billion, amounting to 2% of business product.
 
Among the government agencies surveyed, the Ministry of Industry & Trade and Ministry of Health have the longest wait on line or for a telephone to be answered - an average of 43 minutes, Ministry of Interior 42 minutes. Ministry of Finance 42 minutes and Ministry of Transport 41 minutes.
 
The National Insurance Institute has the shortest average waiting time - 29 minutes.