Circular No. 32/2017/TT-BTTTT on providing online public services and ensuring convenient access to websites or online portals of state agencies.

CIRCULAR

REGULATIONS ON THE PROVISION OF ONLINE PUBLIC SERVICES AND ENSURING ACCESSIBILITY TO THE WEBSITES OR PORTALS OF STATE ADMINISTRATIVE AGENCIES

Pursuant to the Law on Information Technology dated June 29, 2006;

Pursuant to Decree No. 17/2017/NĐ-CP dated February 17, 2017, issued by the Government, on the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Information and Communications;

Decree No. 64/2007/ND-CP dated April 10, 2007 of the Government on the Application of Information Technology in State Administrative Activities;

Pursuant to Decree No. 43/2011/ND-CP dated June 13, 2011 of the Government on the Provision of Information and Online Public Services on Websites or Portals of State Administrative Agencies;

Implementing Resolution No. Decision No. 36a/QD-CP dated October 14, 2015 of the Government on the Digital Government;

At the request of the Director of the Information Technology Agency,

The Minister of Information and Communications issues this Circular regulating the provision of online public services and ensuring accessibility to websites or portals of state administrative agencies.This Circular regulates the provision of online public services and ensuring accessibility to websites, portals, and online public service portals (hereinafter referred to collectively as portals) of state administrative agencies.

PART I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of Regulation

1. Ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government-affiliated agencies; General Departments, Departments, and equivalent agencies; People's Committees of provinces and centrally governed cities (hereinafter referred to collectively as provincial People's Committees) and their affiliated specialized agencies; People's Committees of districts, towns, urban districts, and towns within centrally governed cities; organizations and individuals related to the matter.

Article 2. Applicability

2. It is encouraged for agencies and organizations not subject to the provisions of Clause 1 of this Article to apply and implement the provisions of this Circular appropriately.

1. Home page is the first page of information that users see when accessing a portal according to the portal address registered and granted by the agency or organization.

Article 3. Explanation of Terms

In this Circular, the following terms are understood as follows:

2. An online public service portal is a unified point of access to online public services of ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government-affiliated agencies, and provincial People's Committees.

3. Users are organizations and individuals using portals and online public services to exploit information and perform services to meet their needs.

4. The agency providing online public services is the agency receiving and implementing online public services for users (hereinafter referred to as the service-providing agency).

5. Documents are types of papers that the party implementing administrative procedures must submit or present to the competent authority before the administrative procedure agency resolves a specific matter for an individual or organization.

6. Electronic administrative documents are documents created, sent, received, and stored electronically.

8. Interactive electronic form (e-Form) is an application of the administrative procedure form displayed in a computer application (typically a web application) for users to provide and exchange data with the online public service application. An interactive electronic form must include at least the fields of information specified in the administrative procedure form (application forms, declaration forms). The interactive electronic form collects data according to the requirements of the administrative procedure under a uniform format for the service-providing agency. These data are managed in the database of the online public service application.

7. Non-interactive electronic forms are administrative procedure forms (application forms, declaration forms) formatted and stored as electronic files for downloading and filling out.

9. User authentication is the process of establishing trust in the identity of the user when accessing and using the information system.

10. Mobile devices are wireless network-connected devices with installed applications, easy to carry and use in various environments. These devices include small devices (such as smartphones) and larger devices (such as tablets).

10. Mobile devices are wireless network-connected devices with application software installed, easily portable and usable in various environments. These devices include small devices (such as smartphones) and larger devices (such as tablets).

Article 4. General Principles for Building Electronic Portals and Online Public Services

1. The construction of electronic portals and online public services by state agencies must follow the principle of putting users at the center.

2. The principle of putting users at the center is manifested as follows:

a) Documents and information related to users that have been successfully provided once to a state agency when using online public services shall not need to be provided again when using subsequent online public services with the same state agency, provided they still have validity according to regulations. For ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government agencies, provincial People's Committees that have connected and shared data among their subordinate agencies, these documents and information shall not need to be provided again when using subsequent online public services with other subordinate agencies within the same ministry or province;

b) Administrative procedures should be carried out more quickly, reducing the number of times users need to visit state agencies;

c) Ensuring convenience for users.

Chapter II

PROVISION OF ONLINE PUBLIC SERVICES

Article 5. Requirements for Levels of Online Public Services

1. Level 1 online public services must provide the following basic information fully:

a) Name of the administrative procedure;

b) Implementation process;

c) Methods of implementation;

d) File components and quantity;

đ) Time limit for resolution;

e) Subjects implementing the administrative procedure;

g) Agency resolving the administrative procedure;

h) Results of administrative procedure implementation: clearly record the final result of the administrative procedure implementation;

i) Information on model forms for applications, administrative declarations, results of administrative procedure implementation, requirements, conditions, fees, and charges if applicable;

k) Methods of receiving files and delivering results (in person, through postal service, via the internet environment);

l) Legal regulatory documents directly governing the administrative procedure and decisions announcing the administrative procedure.

2. Level 2 online public services must meet the following requirements fully:

a) Provide full basic information as required for Level 1 online public services;

b) Provide all non-interactive electronic forms fully and allow users to download them for declaration purposes;

c) Printed files from non-interactive electronic forms, after declaration as prescribed, are accepted as equivalent to those declared on paper forms.

3. Level 3 online public services must meet the following requirements fully:

a) Meet the requirements of Level 2 online public services;

b) Forms of the service are provided fully in interactive electronic form so that users can declare information, provide relevant documents (if any) in electronic file attachment format, and submit the file online to the service provider;

c) Electronic administrative files are organized and stored in the application’s database to ensure processing, searching, statistics, consolidation, connection, and sharing with databases of related systems;

d) Transactions during the file processing and service provision process are conducted over the internet;

đ) Payment of fees and charges (if any) and receipt of results can be done directly at the service provider or through postal service.

4. Level 4 online public services must meet the following requirements fully:

a) Meet the requirements of Level 3 online public services;

b) Provide online payment functionality allowing users to immediately pay fees and charges (if any) through the internet environment;

c) Delivery of results to users can be done online, through postal service, or in person. The electronic results of online public services have the same legal value as traditional results according to regulations on electronic results by specialized agencies. Online delivery of results is carried out based on agreement between the user and the service provider through one or more of the following methods: notification on the electronic portal providing the online public service; sending through the result delivery function of the online public service; sending through the user's email. Encouragement is given to deliver results through other electronic communication channels such as mobile phone messages, network-based information exchange services.

Article 6. Publication of the List of Online Public Services

1. In the section "Online Public Services" on the electronic portal of the Ministry, ministry-level agency, government agency, General Department, Department, and equivalent agencies, Provincial People's Committee must promptly and fully announce the entire list of online public services of the agency and its subordinate units.

2. The list of online public services shall be classified by industry, field, administrative level, and clearly indicate the level of service to facilitate searching and usage.

3. The name of the online public service must be set according to the name of the corresponding administrative procedure as prescribed in the regulatory legal document.

Article 7. Electronic Administrative File

1. For non-interactive electronic forms

a) Must be provided in a text file format in accordance with the provisions under the section "Documents" in the Technical Standards for Information Technology Applications in State Agencies accompanying Circular No. 22/2013/TT-BTTTT dated December 23, 2013, issued by the Minister of Information and Communications on the Technical Standards for Information Technology Applications in State Agencies (hereinafter referred to as Circular No. 22/2013/TT-BTTTT) or any subsequent amendments or updates if applicable;

b) Must ensure that when printed, it is equivalent to paper forms, clear enough for users to fill in information easily and accurately.

2. Creating an electronic administrative file

Based on the system's processing and storage capacity, requirements for quantity and quality of electronic administrative files, the service provider needs to determine appropriate parameters for creating electronic administrative files and clearly inform users when using the service.

3. Requirements for creating an electronic administrative file

a) Quality requirements for electronic administrative files created by scanning or digital photography: The file must be clear, large enough in size to read the content easily on a computer screen and when printed on paper;

b) File format in the electronic administrative file after digitization: for text and image files in the electronic administrative file, apply the formats of text and images at the sections "Documents" and "Graphic Images" in the Technical Standards for Information Technology Applications in State Agencies accompanying Circular No. 22/2013/TT-BTTTT or any subsequent amendments or updates if applicable;

c) File size in the electronic administrative file: the maximum file size for each file uploaded as an attachment to the electronic administrative file must be announced at the file attachment selection location on the interactive electronic form so that users can see and comply with it.

Article 8. Interactive Electronic Forms

1. The interface of the interactive electronic form should be designed visually appealing, easy to use, and convenient for users.

2. In data entry fields within the form, existing data in the application's database must be provided in a selection mode so that users do not have to re-enter them.

3. Within the form, provide direct guidance functions at each data entry point so that users can view instructions for filling out information and using the service when necessary.

4. The online public service must provide a function to save (export to a file or print) the information entered by users in the interactive electronic form.

Article 9. Information Exchange with Users During the Provision of Level 3 and Level 4 Online Public Services

1. Level 3 and Level 4 online public services must have the following minimum functions for information exchange between the service provider and users during the service provision process:

a) A function allowing users to monitor and check the receipt and delivery of results of administrative procedures;

b) An automatic notification function informing users about the receipt and delivery of results of administrative procedures.

2. Forms of Information Exchange Notifications with Users

a) Notification on the online portal providing online public services when users log in to the service;

b) Notification via the user's email;

c) Notification via the user's mobile phone text message;

d) Notification through network-based information exchange services;

đ) Notification through other electronic means.

Article 10. User Authentication in Level 3 and Level 4 Online Public Services

1. Level 3 and Level 4 online public services must authenticate users when they use the service, in accordance with the requirements of the service.

2. The minimum method of user authentication shall be through username and password.

Article 11. Requirements for Online Public Services

1. Minimum guidance sections serving the provision of online public services on the online portal include:

a) Guidance sections for implementing common administrative services to help users understand the procedures and steps required to perform a task;

b) Sections containing frequently asked questions and answers to assist users in finding solutions to common issues encountered when performing administrative procedures or using online public services.

2. Level 3 and Level 4 online public services must meet the following minimum requirements:

a) Compatibility with commonly used web browsers;

b) Easy to find services: users should be able to locate services within a maximum of three clicks from the homepage of the online portal providing online public services; easily found through popular search tools;

c) Mechanism for guiding and automatically filling out information: support for automatically filling in user information if such information has been provided during account registration or in previous service usage, and if the information of state agencies is available in the system's database; support for entering and checking information according to predefined formats; detailed explanations about the information needed (for specific, specialized information);

d) Function for users to evaluate their satisfaction with the service after use (hereinafter referred to as the evaluation function);

đ) Ensuring fast data processing and exchange time: in cases where the system knows that processing and data exchange will take longer than 10 seconds, it must provide a progress percentage completion notification;

e) Ensuring stable operation: online public services must operate continuously 24 hours a day, every day; ensure that services are thoroughly tested for errors before being put into use to minimize errors during use; when maintaining or upgrading services, information about maintenance and upgrade and the expected return-to-service date must be posted on the online portal at least one working day in advance;

g) Having an email address to receive user feedback.

3. The online portal providing online public services must have a function to statistically report the resolution of files for Level 3 and Level 4 online public services. Each service must report the following minimum statistical figures from the beginning of the year to the current date:

a) Number of online files received;

b) Number of online files resolved;

c) Percentage of online files resolved on time;

d) Total number of files received through both online and non-online methods;

đ) Data on user satisfaction with the service according to each content of the evaluation as stipulated in Article 12 of this Circular.

Article 12. Evaluation of user satisfaction with level 3 and level 4 online public services

1. Content of Assessment

a) Overall evaluation of the service;

b) Detailed evaluation of the service, including: evaluation of the convenience of using the service (ease of use, response time when communicating and processing data); timeliness in handling and providing results by state agencies; attitude of support and handling of online public services by state agencies (enthusiasm, communication methods of officials when guiding and processing);

c) Each evaluation content shall be rated on three (3) levels: Very Satisfied, Satisfied, Not Satisfied.

2. The evaluation function must include at least the overall evaluation content specified in Point a Clause 1 of this Article.

Article 13. Announcing the level of online public services

1. The specialized units for information technology of Ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government agencies, Provincial Departments of Information and Communications have the responsibility to determine and announce the level of each online public service provided by agencies under their ministries or provinces on the list of online public services on the ministry or provincial electronic portal.

2. The Directorate of E-Government - Ministry of Information and Communications has the responsibility to periodically or urgently inspect the announcement of the list of online public services on the electronic portals of Ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government agencies, General Departments, Bureaus, and equivalent agencies, and provincial People's Committees.

Article 14. Ensuring the effectiveness of level 3 and level 4 online public services

1. Measures to ensure the effectiveness of online public services:

a) Selecting practical administrative procedures with high demand to build into level 3 and level 4 online public services;

b) Monitoring and urging the acceptance and processing of online applications;

c) Promoting awareness about online public services;

d) Training and guiding users to use online public services;

đ) Implementing the provisions set forth in Article 4 of this Circular.

2. The specialized units for information technology of Ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government agencies bear the responsibility to advise Ministers, Heads of ministerial-level agencies, and government agencies to implement measures to ensure the effectiveness of level 3 and level 4 online public services.

3. Provincial Departments of Information and Communications bear the responsibility to advise Chairpersons of provincial People's Committees to implement measures to ensure the effectiveness of level 3 and level 4 online public services.

Chapter III

ENSURING ACCESSIBILITY

Article 15. General Provisions for Designing and Building Electronic Portals and Online Public Services

1. The design, development, and provision of information and services on electronic portals must meet the following requirements:

a) Meeting the needs of users;

b) Complying with the provisions of Article 4 of this Circular;

c) Complying with the Vietnamese Government E-Government Architecture Framework, the Government E-Government Architecture at the ministry level, or the provincial e-government architecture.

2. The connection between electronic portals and online public service applications with other applications and databases within Ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government agencies, and provincial People's Committees for exchanging, sharing, and reusing common data at the ministry or provincial level shall be implemented through the integration and sharing data platform of the ministry or province.

3. The connection between electronic portals and online public service applications of Ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government agencies, and provincial People's Committees to national databases and information systems with scope and scale from central to local levels for exchanging, sharing, and reusing existing information and data between ministries and provinces shall be carried out according to the provisions of Article 16 of Circular No. 13/2017/TT-BTTTT dated June 23, 2017, of the Minister of Information and Communications on technical requirements for connecting information systems and databases with the national database.

4. Electronic portals and level 3 and level 4 online public services must support new generation Internet addresses IPv6 and DNSSEC in accordance with the national action plan for IPv6 application and the project to deploy DNSSEC standards for ".VN" domain name system servers.

Article 16. User Interface, Layout, and Minimum Functions of the Electronic Portal

1. The user interface must ensure convenience for users, with clear distinctions between information areas.

2. Main categories of information as prescribed in Chapter II of Decree No. 43/2011/NĐ-CP dated June 13, 2011, of the Government on providing information and online public services on electronic websites or portals of state agencies (hereinafter referred to as Decree No. 43/2011/NĐ-CP), must be displayed on the homepage or in the main menu and at positions convenient for users to easily notice.

3. Layout of Information on the Homepage of the Electronic Portal

The homepage layout includes three parts: header, main information section, and footer.

a) Header: includes the introductory banner and functional menu. The introductory title is the topmost part of the homepage with basic information such as the National Emblem or emblem of the agency and the full name of the agency in Vietnamese with formal font style. Below the introductory title is the menu displaying main functions such as Home, About Us, Online Public Services, Site Map, and other functions.banner) and functional menu (menu). The introductory heading is the top portion of the homepage containing basic information: the National Emblem or emblem of the agency and the full name of the agency in Vietnamese with formal font style. Below the introductory heading is a menu displaying main functions such as: Home, About Us, Online Public Services, Portal Map, and other functions;

b) Main Information Section: located between the header and footer, it displays main categories of information, selected news articles, newly updated information, and main functions serving users to search and exchange information with state agencies.

c) Footer: displays copyright information and information about the managing agency of the electronic portal. The minimum required information about the managing agency of the electronic portal includes: unit name, person responsible, address, contact phone number, email address of the unit.

4. Minimum Functions of the Electronic Portal

a) Support functions as stipulated in Article 15 of Decree No. 43/2011/NĐ-CP;

b) Site Map function: the site map must fully and accurately reflect the structure of information and services of the electronic portal under a tree-like textual structure for users, and as an XML file for search engines.Article 17. Mobile Device Access Support1. State agency electronic portals must support access from mobile devices for the main categories of information as prescribed in Chapter II of Decree No. 43/2011/NĐ-CP.

2. It is encouraged that state agency electronic portals support complete access from mobile devices.

3. Design and construction of electronic portals supporting access from mobile devices should encourage application according to technical guidelines on Mobile Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.0 (WCAG 2.0, link: https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20) and the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) or updated versions of WCAG if available.

Article 18. Support for Persons with Disabilities to Access Information

1. State agency electronic portals must support persons with disabilities to access information according to the following minimum requirements:

a) Ensuring reasonable color contrast: the combination of background and text colors must have clear contrast to assist visually impaired individuals in easily recognizing information. Avoid using color alone to emphasize content within a paragraph. Encourage the provision of a function allowing users to change color and contrast between background and text colors.

b) Not using blinking text or automatically moving text to ensure compatibility with screen reader programs when necessary.

c) Providing equivalent text information: provide text descriptions of the content of non-text objects such as icons, images, confirmation buttons, artistic fonts, charts, graphs, and all image links; text descriptions of the main content of audio and video information.

d) Information navigation: use meaningful phrases linked to a hyperlink or use the title attribute to provide additional information clarifying or describing the purpose of a link; use the heading attribute to divide sections of content information on a webpage.

đ) Presenting tabular data: provide summary information for tables to describe what the table represents, the names of column headers; use marking techniques to link data cells with corresponding header cells for tables with multiple levels of row or column headers.2. Encourage the provision of shortcut keys to access the functions of the electronic portal, especially the Home, Site Map, and Search functions; integrate technologies and functions supporting persons with disabilities to access information (automatic reading of content, increasing/decreasing font size) into the electronic portal.MANAGEMENT OF ELECTRONIC PORTAL ACTIVITIES

d) Information orientation: using meaningful phrases to link to a hyperlink or using the title attribute to provide additional information to clarify or describe more specifically the purpose of a link; using the heading attribute to divide sections of content within a webpage;

e) Presenting data tables: providing summary information for data tables to describe what the table represents and the names of column headers; using markup techniques to link each data cell to corresponding header cells for data tables with multiple levels of row or column headers.

2. Encouraging the provision of shortcut keys to access portal functions, particularly to the following functions: Home, Portal Map, Search; integrating on the portal technologies and features supporting persons with disabilities in accessing information (automatic reading of content, increasing/decreasing font size).

Chapter IV

MANAGEMENT OF PORTAL ACTIVITIES

Article 19. Ensuring Timeliness and Continuous Operation

The managing agencies of electronic information portals and agencies providing online public services shall be responsible for:

1. Ensuring the deadlines for providing, processing, and storing information as prescribed in Article 17 of Decree No. 43/2011/NĐ-CP.

2. Ensuring human resources to manage, operate, maintain electronic information portals, and handle online public services according to the provisions in Section 1, Chapter IV of Decree No. 43/2011/NĐ-CP.

3. Implementing maintenance, repair, operation, upgrading, and modification of electronic information portals according to the provisions in Section 3, Chapter IV of Decree No. 43/2011/NĐ-CP.

4. Ensuring that information and online public services are always updated fully, accurately, and ready for access at all times.

Article 20. Using Secure Hypertext Transfer Protocol

State agencies must use Secure Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTPS) to enhance security for accessing level 3 and level 4 online public services.

Article 21. Ensuring Information Security and Data Protection

The managing agencies of electronic information portals and online public services shall be responsible for complying with the detailed regulations and guidance on certain provisions of Decree No. 85/2016/NĐ-CP dated July 1, 2016, issued by the Government on ensuring information security by levels, as stipulated in Circular No. 03/2017/TT-BTTTT dated April 24, 2017, issued by the Minister of Information and Communications, and other legal regulatory documents on information security and data protection.

Article 22. Inspection and Evaluation of Electronic Information Portals and Online Public Services

1. Electronic information portals and online public services of state agencies shall be inspected and evaluated annually or at any time upon request of authorized state agencies.

2. Content of inspection and evaluation: checking compliance with regulations on providing information and online public services and building and managing electronic information portals as prescribed in Decree No. 43/2011/NĐ-CP, this Circular, and related legal regulatory documents.

3. Forms of inspection and evaluation

a) Online inspection by directly accessing electronic information portals of state agencies;

b) Inspection using software tools (System for Collecting and Evaluating the Use of Information and Online Public Services);

c) Direct inspection at the offices of managing agencies of electronic information portals.

4. Responsibilities for inspection and evaluation

a) The E-Government Department under the Ministry of Information and Communications shall be responsible for: periodically inspecting and evaluating electronic information portals and online public services of ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government-affiliated agencies, and provincial People's Committees; building, managing, maintaining, and operating the System for Collecting and Evaluating the Use of Information and Online Public Services to inspect and evaluate the frequency of article updates, number of accesses to information categories as prescribed in Decree No. 43/2011/NĐ-CP, and the number of accesses and level of online public services; guiding and coordinating with relevant units to implement this system;

b) Specialized units for information technology of ministries, ministerial-level agencies, and government-affiliated agencies shall be responsible for inspecting and evaluating electronic information portals and online public services of their respective ministries and subordinate units;

c) Departments of Information and Communications of centrally governed cities and provinces shall be responsible for inspecting and evaluating electronic information portals and online public services of their respective provinces, People's Committees at various levels, and specialized agencies under the province.

Chapter V

IMPLEMENTATION

Article 23. Responsibilities for Implementation

1. The E-Government Department under the Ministry of Information and Communications shall be responsible for: disseminating and guiding the implementation of the contents of this Circular; organizing inspections of compliance with the provisions of this Circular; advising the Ministry of Information and Communications to address issues arising during the implementation of this Circular.

2. Specialized units for information technology of ministries, ministerial-level agencies, and government-affiliated agencies shall be responsible for: disseminating and guiding the implementation of the provisions of this Circular for subordinate units; implementing tasks prescribed in this Circular.

3. Departments of Information and Communications of centrally governed cities and provinces shall be responsible for: disseminating and guiding the implementation of the contents of this Circular for state agencies in their localities; implementing tasks prescribed in this Circular.

Article 24. Effective Date

1. This Circular takes effect from June 1, 2018, and replaces Circular No. 26/2009/TT-BTTTT dated July 31, 2009, issued by the Minister of Information and Communications on the provision of information and ensuring convenient access to the websites of state agencies.

2. During the implementation process, if any issues arise or difficulties occur, agencies, organizations, and individuals should promptly report them to the Ministry of Information and Communications for consideration, supplementation, and amendment.