Decision No. 154/2003/QĐ-BBCVT on receiving citizens and handling complaints and denunciations of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications and its affiliated units.

Pursuant to …;

Provisions on receiving citizens and handling complaints and denunciations

of the Ministry and units under the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications

______________________

THE MINISTER OF POSTS AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Pursuant to the Law on Complaints and Reports dated December 2, 1998;

On the basis of Decree No. 90/2002/NĐ-CP dated November 11, 2002 of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications;

Pursuant to Decree No. 67/1999/NĐ-CP dated August 7, 1999 of the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of the Law on Complaints and Denunciations and  Decree No. 62/2002/NĐ-CP dated June 14, 2002 of the Government amending and supplementing certain articles of Decree No. 67/1999/NĐ-CP;

Pursuant to Decree No. 75/2003/NĐ-CP dated June 26, 2003 of the Government on the organization and operation of Postal, Telecommunications, and Information Technology Inspection;

At the proposal of the Inspector General of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications,

DECISION:

Article 1: Issued together with this Decision is the "Provisions on Receiving Citizens and Handling Complaints and Denunciations of the Ministry and Units under the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications".

Article 2: This Decision shall take effect 15 days after its publication in the Official Gazette.

Article 3: The Inspector General of the Ministry, the Director of the Office, Heads of agencies and units directly under the Ministry shall be responsible for implementing this Decision./.

REGULATIONS

On Receiving Citizens and Handling Complaints and Denunciations

of the Ministry and Units under the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications.

(Issued together with Decision No.: 154/2003/QĐ-BBCVT

dated September 5, 2003 of the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications)

PART I

PROVISIONS ON RECEIVING CITIZENS

Article 1. Responsibilities for Receiving Citizens

The Minister, Heads of agencies and units under the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications shall be responsible for receiving citizens. The organization and implementation of citizen reception work shall be specified as follows:

1. The Minister or Deputy Minister authorized shall be responsible for receiving citizens on the second day of the first week of each month. The Director of the Office shall preside over and coordinate with the Inspectorate of the Ministry or relevant agencies and units to prepare the content and assign staff to accompany the Minister in receiving citizens.

2. Directors of Departments, Heads of agencies and units under the Ministry shall be responsible for receiving citizens at least once a month on the second day of the week; organizing citizen reception work related to complaints and denunciations concerning the management functions and tasks of their agencies or units.

Directors of Departments, Heads of agencies and units shall be responsible for assigning specialized functional departments to directly implement citizen reception, propose measures to resolve citizens' complaints and denunciations within their areas of management.

3. The Inspectorate of Posts and Telecommunications, Inspectors of Departments under the Ministry shall be the focal point, regularly receiving citizens who complain, denounce, or make reflections and suggestions related to the responsibilities of state management of the Ministry; classify complaint and denunciation letters, notify schedules for relevant units to receive citizens after receiving instructions from their superiors.

4. Standards, responsibilities, and authorities of citizen reception officers

a) Citizen reception officers must have good moral qualities, honesty, professional expertise, familiarity with laws and practical situations, and a high sense of responsibility for the assigned tasks;

b) When performing their duties, citizen reception officers must wear identification cards and prepare all necessary working conditions and equipment (citizen reception notebooks, documents, recording devices...); check citizens' identity papers (ID cards, introduction letters, power of attorney...); guide citizens to present their complaints and denunciations fully and clearly, provide relevant documents and evidence; issue two copies of receipt forms, files, and documents provided by citizens, give one copy to the citizen and keep one copy in the resolution file.

c) Citizen reception officers must report comprehensively, accurately, and promptly to their direct superiors about the contents related to citizens' complaints and denunciations; resolve any difficulties encountered during citizen reception;

d) Citizen reception officers shall not receive citizens at their private residences or outside the designated citizen reception locations of their agencies;

đ) Citizen reception officers shall not cause inconvenience, harassment, or obstruction, delay in citizens' complaints and denunciations; shall not disclose information, documents, or writings of the complainant;

e) Citizen reception officers have the right to refuse to receive individuals who are intoxicated, mentally unstable, or violate the rules of the citizen reception location;

g) Citizen reception officers shall be responsible for promptly and legally addressing any actions by citizens that abuse their right to complain and denounce to insult, slander, threaten, abuse, or disrupt order at the citizen reception location.

Article 2. Place for Receiving Citizens

The offices of the Ministries, Departments, and affiliated units under the Ministry shall arrange places for receiving citizens at convenient locations, ensuring necessary conditions and means so that citizens can easily and conveniently present their complaints, reports, suggestions, and reflections.

The place for receiving citizens must have a sign reading "Citizen Reception Room", and must post specific working hours and citizen reception regulations according to Appendix 1 attached to this Regulation.

Article 3. Handling Complaints and Reports During Citizen Reception

1. Content within the Scope of Authority

a) In cases where citizens come with complaint or report letters:

If the letter meets the requirements stipulated in Article 1 of Decree No. 67/1999/NĐ-CP dated August 7, 1999, then proceed with the procedures for accepting the letter and accompanying documents. If the complaint letter has multiple signatures from several people, guide the complainant to write separate letters to carry out the complaint process.

If the letter contains some content within the scope of authority of the Ministry, guide the citizen to rewrite the letter regarding issues within the scope of authority for consideration, and guide them to send issues outside the scope of authority to the competent authority for resolution.

b) In cases where citizens present their complaints directly without accompanying letters:

For complaint content, guide the citizens to write letters; if multiple people come to complain about the same issue, guide each person to write separate letters to carry out the complaint process.

For report content, record the report (record the voice of the report when necessary); the recorded report must be read back or played back to the reporter and require the citizen to confirm by signature.

c) Civil servants receiving citizens shall prepare a receipt for the letters, files, and documents provided by citizens as stipulated in points a and b of Clause 1 of this Article in two copies, giving one copy to the citizen and keeping one copy in the file for resolution.

Based on the complexity of the case and the responsibility of specialized departments within the agency, civil servants receiving citizens shall prepare appointment slips for citizens in two copies, giving one copy to the citizen and keeping one copy in the file for resolution.

2. Handling Content Outside the Scope of Authority

In cases where complaints or reports have already been decided or concluded but the citizen continues to submit letters, guide the citizen to the next competent authority for resolution or initiate legal proceedings as prescribed by law. Refuse to accept letters for complaints that have been accepted by the court for resolution or have exceeded the statute of limitations. If the complaint has already been resolved with a final decision, request the citizen to comply.

For complaints or reports not within the scope of authority of the Ministry or the unit itself, guide the citizen to the correct competent authority for resolution.

3. When citizens request to meet the head of the agency, the civil servant receiving citizens shall record the request; if the content falls within the scope of authority, report to the head for instructions to schedule an appointment time and prepare relevant case files.

4. For suggestions and proposals from citizens related to the scope of state management of the Ministry, civil servants receiving citizens shall be responsible for collecting and reporting to the leadership for instructions and assigning relevant functional units to examine and resolve.

Article 4. Citizens' reception book and complaint tracking book

1. Citizens' reception book

Must record fully each visit of citizens for complaints and denunciations regarding the content: date, month, year of complaint and denunciation; name, address, number of people complaining and denouncing; signature of the citizen complaining and denouncing; complaint and denunciation file; name of the civil servant receiving citizens and the handling process.

2. Complaint tracking book

Must reflect fully the quantity of complaints, the number of cases received, examined, and resolved. Track in detail each complaint from when it is received to when it is resolved, ensuring easy monitoring and retrieval. All received complaints must be classified, recorded with full and accurate content in the complaint tracking book. (Annex 2 attached)

PART II

RECEIVING AND RESOLVING COMPLAINTS AND DENUNCIATIONS

Section 1

Receiving complaints and denunciations

and handling complaints and denunciations not within jurisdiction

Article 5. Procedure for receiving complaints and denunciations

Complaints and denunciations sent to agencies must be centralized at a unified point for management, tracking, and reporting on resolution results, specifically divided as follows:

1. At the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications

a) Complaints and denunciations sent through official correspondence, the Office shall be responsible for transferring the complaints to the unit handling and resolving them according to the instructions of the Ministry's leadership; in cases where functional departments or units under the Ministry are assigned to handle and resolve, they shall be responsible for sending copies of the content and resolution results of the complaints to the Ministry's Inspectorate for tracking and summarizing;

b) Complaints and denunciations received directly at the citizens' reception room, the civil servant receiving citizens shall be responsible for promptly reporting to the Chief Inspector of the Ministry for consideration and handling; in complex cases, a report requesting instructions from the Ministry's leadership shall be made before handling and resolving;

c) Departments and units under the Ministry shall be responsible for resolving or promptly coordinating with the Ministry's Inspectorate to examine and resolve complaints related to their management functions and tasks.

2. At the Departments and units directly under the Ministry

a) Complaints and denunciations transferred through official correspondence, the administrative consolidation department shall be responsible for transferring the complaints to the unit handling and resolving them according to the instructions of the Department's leadership; in cases where functional departments of the Department are assigned to handle and resolve, they shall be responsible for sending copies of the content and resolution results of the complaints to the Department's Inspectorate for tracking and summarizing;

b) Complaints and denunciations received directly at the citizens' reception rooms of the Departments, the civil servants receiving citizens shall be responsible for promptly reporting to the Chief Inspector of the Department for consideration and handling; in complex cases, a report requesting instructions from the Department's leadership shall be made before handling and resolving;

c) When receiving complaints transferred from the Ministry's Inspectorate or other agencies, after resolving, a report on the resolution results must be sent to the agency that transferred the complaint.

3. For reflections and suggestions published in mass media concerning the scope of the Ministry's state management, the Information Center shall be responsible for leading the tracking, handling, summarizing, and informing the Ministry's Inspectorate and Vietnam Post Newspaper to coordinate during the handling process.

Article 6. Handling complaints and reports not within jurisdiction

1. In cases where complaints and reports are not within the jurisdiction of the agency or unit itself but fall within the jurisdiction of another agency or unit under the Ministry, the relevant documents and related materials shall be transferred to that agency or unit for resolution.

2. Where complaints and reports fall within the jurisdiction of other Ministries or sectors, the documents shall not be transferred but the parties concerned shall be guided to the competent authority for resolution.

3. For complaints and reports where part of the content falls within the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications and another part falls within the jurisdiction of other Ministries or sectors, the content within the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications shall be considered and resolved. If necessary, the Inspector General of the Ministry shall submit to the Minister for the establishment of a joint inter-ministerial team to resolve the matter.

Section 2

Complaint Resolution and Reporting

Article 7. Responsibility for Resolving Complaints

1. In cases where complaints are about administrative decisions, administrative acts, or business-related suggestions at a certain level, the head of that unit shall be responsible for initial resolution, specifically:

a) The Directors of Regional Postal, Telecommunications, and Information Technology Departments, the Frequency Management Department, and the Postal, Telecommunications, and Information Technology Quality Management Department shall be responsible for resolving complaints about administrative decisions, administrative acts, or business-related suggestions within their jurisdiction and scope of management; they shall also be responsible for submitting to the Minister for decision-making on complaints within the Minister's jurisdiction when delegated.

b) Heads of affiliated units under the Ministry shall be responsible for resolving complaints related to their areas of management and staff under their control. They shall assist the Minister in reviewing complaints within the Minister's jurisdiction when delegated.

c) The Minister shall review and resolve complaints about his own administrative decisions or administrative acts, or review and resolve complaints about decisions made by Department Directors, heads of units under the Ministry, or Chairpersons of provincial or centrally-administered city People's Committees regarding postal services, telecommunications, and information technology, but which citizens continue to complain about.

d) Chiefs of Departments under the Ministry with functions to advise the Minister on state management in specific fields shall be responsible for leading the examination and handling of complaints and suggestions in those fields; if the complaint involves other functional Departments, the leading Department shall be responsible for requesting cooperation from the relevant Departments to jointly resolve the matter.

2. The Inspector General of the Ministry, together with related units, shall examine, verify, conclude, and recommend for the Minister to make the final decision on complaints within the Minister's jurisdiction as stipulated in point c, Clause 1 of this Article.

3. Inspectors or persons assigned by the head of the unit shall be responsible for conducting investigations, verifying, concluding, and recommending the head of the unit to resolve citizens' complaints.

4. Within five working days, the Directors of Departments and the heads of units under the Ministry shall be responsible for examining, accepting, or declining to accept and informing the complainant in writing.

5. For complaints about disciplinary decisions signed by the Minister concerning civil servants and complaints about disciplinary decisions signed by the heads of units under the Ministry concerning civil servants, which have been initially resolved but are still being complained about, these shall be referred to the Cadre and Civil Servant Organization Department for verification, conclusion, recommendation, and resolution by the Minister.

Article 8. Procedure for Handling Complaints

1. The authority handling complaints must thoroughly, accurately, and scientifically examine and verify all evidence to conclude on the complaint matter. In cases where the examination materials are insufficient to draw conclusions, it may be necessary to request an appraisal or seek advisory opinions from relevant specialized agencies. The procedures and costs for requesting an appraisal shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of Decree No. 117/HĐBT dated July 21, 1988 of the Council of Ministers (now the Government) on judicial appraisal.

2. For matters that have already been handled at the initial complaint resolution level, it is necessary to work with the previous handling department to issue a decision resolving the remaining issues of complaint.

When working with the parties involved, a record must be made detailing the opinions of each participant. If requested by one of the parties or deemed necessary, a dialogue between the complainant and the respondent should be organized, with audio recording or a record of the dialogue session.

3. In cases where it is not possible to conclude the complaint resolution within the prescribed time limit, the department responsible for handling the complaint must promptly report to the competent authority about the objective and subjective reasons for extending the resolution period in writing, while simultaneously informing the complainant and the respondent.

4. Upon completion of the complaint resolution, the head of the agency or unit that has taken charge must issue a complaint resolution decision containing the following contents:

Date of decision issuance; Name and address of the complainant and the respondent; Whether the complaint content is correct, partially correct, or entirely incorrect; Results of examination and verification; Legal basis for resolution; Maintaining, amending, or revoking part or all of the administrative decision, terminating the complained-of act; Resolving specific issues within the complaint content; Right to file further complaints or initiate litigation; Person implementing, level of implementation.

The complaint resolution decision must be sent to the complainant, the previous complaint handler (if it is subsequent handling), the respondent, persons with rights and interests related to the case, and the person who forwarded the complaint within the latest period of seven days from the date of the resolution decision.

Article 9. Responsibility for Handling Accusations

1. If an accusation concerns a violation of duties or public service regulations by a civil servant or employee under a particular agency or unit, the head of that agency or unit shall be responsible for handling it. If the accusation concerns a violation of duties or public service regulations by the head of a unit, the immediate superior head of that unit shall be responsible for handling it.

2. If an accusation involves a violation of laws related to the management domain under the purview of a Bureau or unit under a Ministry, the Bureau head or head of that unit shall be responsible for handling it.

3. For citizens' reports regarding administrative violations in the postal, telecommunications, and information technology sectors, the receiving unit shall be responsible for transferring such reports to the relevant Bureaus for inspection and handling according to the law.

4. The Inspector General of the Ministry shall be responsible for chairing the review and conclusion of the accusation content, and proposing measures for the Minister to handle the following cases:

a) Accusations that have been resolved by Bureau heads or unit heads under the Ministry but still involve legal violations.

b) Accusations concerning the violation of laws by Bureau heads or unit heads directly subordinate to the Ministry.

Article 10. Procedure for Handling Complaints

1. The person handling the complaint shall work with the complainant to confirm the accuracy and truthfulness of the contents of the complaint, as well as the documents and evidence provided by the complainant. They shall also work with the unit or individual being complained against regarding the contents of the complaint, requesting them to provide relevant documents and evidence to prove the complained behavior.

2. Conduct thorough verification and investigation of all evidence and proof serving the conclusion, with specific and strict confirmation of each content and detail of the matter with related parties. In necessary cases, they may request expert appraisal or seek advisory opinions from specialized agencies.

3. During the process of handling complaints, the handler must absolutely keep confidential the name, address, position, handwriting, papers, and file of the person who filed the complaint.

4. At the end of the complaint handling process, the handler must issue a formal conclusion on the complaint case. The main content of the conclusion must include:

A summary of the complaint content; results of verification and investigation, legal evidence; clear conclusions on the degree of correctness or incorrectness of each complaint content; determination of causes and responsibilities for any violations (if any); recommendations and improvements in management work; recommendations for material and disciplinary sanctions against individuals (if any); sending the decision on the resolution of the complaint and the handling of violations to the relevant agencies, individuals, and superior agencies; informing the complainant of the resolution conclusion (if requested), except for contents classified as state secrets. In cases where there are signs of criminal offenses, a dossier shall be established and transferred to the police for handling.

5. Complaints made anonymously, under false names, without a clear address, not signed directly but copied signatures, or complaints that have been reviewed and concluded by authorized bodies and are resubmitted without new evidence shall not be resolved.

Article 11. Archiving Files and Urging Implementation of Petition and Complaint Resolution

1. After completing the petition and complaint resolution process, the handler must establish a case file according to the prescribed procedures and steps during the examination and resolution process. The case file must be stored and preserved according to current regulations, and it can only be provided to related responsible agencies with the consent of the head of the unit.

2. The head of the unit handling petitions and complaints has the responsibility to urge related agencies, organizations, and individuals to implement decisions or conclusions on resolution. The head of the managing agency of the person being complained against has the responsibility to immediately implement the conclusions, recommendations, or decisions on handling related to the person being complained against. The superior managing agency of the person being complained against must have the responsibility to urge, remind, or make decisions to handle any violations (if any) mentioned in the complaint resolution conclusion for the complained agency.

CHAPTER III

MANAGEMENT OF PETITION AND COMPLAINT RESOLUTION WORK

AND REPORTING REGIME

Article 12. Responsibilities of the Ministry's Inspectorate

1. Submit to the Ministry's leadership for signing and issuing guiding documents, organizing, and directing the implementation of citizen reception and petition and complaint resolution within the scope of the Ministry's administrative management.

2. Inspect the responsibility of the heads of agencies and units under the Ministry's management regarding citizen reception and petition and complaint resolution.

3. Organize training and professional development on citizen reception and petition and complaint resolution.

4. Summarize, evaluate, and draw lessons from citizen reception and petition and complaint resolution work.

5. Compile the results of citizen reception and petition and complaint resolution work of their own unit and subordinate agencies and units to report to the Minister or related state agencies.

6. Lead the development of software for managing citizen reception and petition and complaint resolution on the Ministry's computer network to receive, monitor, and update complete information about the reception and resolution of citizen petitions and complaints in a timely, accurate, and convenient manner, serving as a basis for receiving and processing citizen letters as a public service.

Article 13. Report on Petition and Complaint Handling Work

1. The Heads of Departments and units under the Ministry shall be responsible for compiling the results of petition and complaint resolution handled by their units to report to the Ministry (the Ministry Inspectorate) in accordance with the regulations.

2. Reports on petition and complaint handling work include quarterly, mid-year, and annual reports; thematic or ad hoc reports.

3. The contents of the report include: reports on citizen reception work, receipt, processing, and resolution results of petitions and complaints; reports on thematic contents assigned.

4. Deadline for submission of reports: at the end of the last month of each quarter, the end of the sixth month of the year, and November of the year.

PART IV

REWARD AND DISCIPLINE

Article 14. Awards

Agencies, units, and civil servants under the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications who have outstanding achievements in citizen reception work and petition and complaint resolution; informers who have made contributions in preventing losses related to postal services, telecommunications, and information technology for the state will be awarded either spontaneously or regularly according to the state's regulations on competition and rewards.

Article 15. Disciplinary Measures

Civil servants of the Ministry performing citizen reception tasks and petition and complaint resolution who take advantage of their positions, powers, and duties for personal gain or due to personal motives, thereby infringing upon or obstructing citizens' legitimate rights and interests in petitioning and complaining, shall be subject to disciplinary measures or criminal responsibility depending on the severity of the violation.  complaints and reports exploiting one’s position, authority, and duties for personal gain or due to personal motives that infringe upon and obstruct citizens’ legitimate rights and interests regarding complaints and reports shall be subject to disciplinary action or criminal liability depending on the severity of the violation.

CHAPTER V

IMPLEMENTING PROVISIONS

Article 16. Implementation Organization

1. The Heads of agencies and units under the Ministry shall be responsible for implementing this Regulation.

Previous provisions that conflict with this Regulation shall be abolished.

2. The Head of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications Inspectorate shall be responsible for organizing, guiding, and inspecting the implementation of this Regulation.

3. In the course of implementation, if difficulties, obstacles arise, or amendments and supplements to this Regulation are needed, agencies and units shall promptly report and reflect these issues to the Ministry (Ministry Inspectorate) for consideration and resolution.

ANNEX 1

NAME OF ORGANIZATION, UNIT                 SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIET NAM YEAR

Independence - Freedom - Happiness

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Detention Facilities in the People's Army for the People

Citizen Reception Work

Citizens coming to lodge petitions and complaints are invited to wait in the waiting room, where the citizen reception officer will handle cases in the order of arrival (except for elderly or sick individuals).

While waiting, citizens lodging petitions and complaints must maintain order and cleanliness in the reception area.

Citizens are not allowed to bring weapons, dangerous objects, flammable, or explosive materials into the reception area to ensure public safety.

Citizens coming to lodge petitions and complaints must clearly present the facts, evidence, and their requests for resolution, and may not abuse their right to petition and complain to distort the truth, slander, or obstruct the work of state agencies; they must follow the guidance of the citizen reception officer.

Citizen reception officers must wear identification badges while working.

Citizen reception officers are responsible for listening, recording clearly in a notebook all petitions, complaints, and requests from citizens, then reading back the recorded content to the petitioner and signing the notebook. If the matter does not fall within the jurisdiction of their agency, they should guide the citizen to the competent authority for resolution.

Citizen reception officers have the right to refuse to receive individuals who are intoxicated, mentally unstable, or improperly dressed.

After working hours, citizens coming to lodge petitions and complaints must leave the agency to ensure overall order and security. Cases where citizens have not been resolved on the same day will be prioritized for resolution on the next working day./.