The Social Fund found out who comes to client offices in person instead of asking for services remotely, and the reasons for that behavior. The Fund's poll covered over 400,000 client office visitors from various Russian regions. Most of them (42.7%) were of advanced age: 56+. Visitors aged 36 to 45 came second (20.2%), those in the 45 – 55 bracket were third (19.6%).
Over a half of all respondents (56.2%) did not try to solve their issue remotely, coming straight to a client office instead. 5.1% were unaware that there were other options besides the in-person visit, while 14% had no technical means to solve their issue remotely.
The majority of those surveyed cited habit as their reason to come to the client office: 48%. 17.1% felt scared of making a mistake if they apply for services remotely. 7.9% said that using the Public Services Portal was challenging for them.
The survey revealed that older citizens with little experience in using electronic gadgets are the core of those who drive the client office footfall. In some cases, the cause for those visits is that some decisions have to be further clarified.
The Social Fund keeps developing the proactive service format and expanding its remote service channel by making them easier and more convenient to use. This, in particular, includes pre-filling forms and submitting them subject to the applicant's approval. The Fund is also working on improving the wording of its decisions to avoid any ambiguity; that would reduce the number of in-person visits to client offices.