Construction permit through DIIA portal obtained

Complainee: Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine 
Complaint in brief: The Council commenced investigation in the case of an olympic training and sports center from Kyiv region. The complainant could not obtain a construction permit for one of the objects. The sports center representatives submitted documents through DIIA portal. It should be noted that according to the legislation novelties, application for obtaining such a permit had to be submitted exceptionally in electronic form from December 1, 2020. After several attempts the director managed to sign and send the application, however information about the document’s status did not display. A technical support manager informed about a technical error in DIIA system. If the portal operates correctly, after application submission, it obtains a number and a “pending” status. The complainant did not get any information about the deadline of fixing a technical error. The administration of the olympic training and sports center lodged a complaint to the Business Ombudsman Council. 
Actions taken: Having examined a case file, the investigator acknowledged the complaint was substantiated. The Council asked the Ministry of Digital Transformation to fix a technical error at DIIA portal and allow submission of documents for obtaining construction permits without any issues. The Council emphasized that the issue can become systemic, since apart from the complainant, other enterprises may have problems with documents submission. As long as applications can be submitted only in electronic form, technical error at DIIA portal can lead to construction delays, violation of contractual commitments and applying penalties in relation to enterprises.
Result achieved: After the Council’s interference, the Ministry of Digital Transformation improved operation of DIIA portal. The complainant successfully obtained a construction permit. The case was closed.