ASPECTS OF A CITIZEN’S CHARTER
Rationale
A Citizen’s Charter expresses the understanding between citizens and the provider of a public service. The service provider is usually the government department or the agency which provides the particular service. If the service is outsourced to a nongovernment agency,that agency becomes the service provider. For example, a birth certificate may be provided by a village panchayat or a municipality or a city corporation. A citizen charter mentions the quality of service and the time for its delivery. It is a statement about the rights of the public and the obligations of the public servants.
Citizens have a right to a particular quality of service which meets their needs and is provided efficiently at a reasonable cost. The Citizen’s Charter is a written, voluntary declaration by service providers. It specifies the level, quality or standard of the relevant services. It indicates the alternatives open to people or whether they can get similar services from other service providers. The charter indicates the procedure through which citizens can get the service from its provider. It assures that all eligible persons will be served in a non discriminatory manner. The relevant details about the service are made public and fully disclosed to ensure transparency. Its details are placed in the public domain so that all can know about it. Nothing about it is kept secret or hidden. Finally, a Citizen’s Charter contains accountability clauses. It specifies the persons responsible for providing the services, and whom the citizens can approach for redressal if they fail to get the service as promised.
Citizen’s charter borrows the idea of customer service from the private sector. No business can survive without a satisfied customer base. Successful businesses focus on product quality, after sales service and redressal of customer complaints. Citizen’s Charters represent one application of the concept of reinventing government on the managerial model of successful private enterprises. In this model, the service providing department or its official is assigned the role of a manager. The citizens are treated as the customers of the department for that service. The service becomes the product which the department provides. The quality of service resembles the product standards of thebusinessterminology.
This model of service delivery also seeks to change the attitudes of government servants. Traditionally, government servants in India have considered themselves as agents exercising government power. They like to lord it over people. The service delivery model casts government servants in a different role as providers of services to people. They have to render service with sympathy and ensure public satisfaction. People pay taxes and government servants, while providing services, have to ensure that people get value for their money.
The Citizen’s Charter should not make promises which it cannot deliver. It should mention those services which are permissible according to the programme or policy guidelines and
within available resources. It should not consist only of assurances or vague promises. It should adopt suitable procedures based on the nature of the service. The citizen charter is a set of ideas to raise the level of standards and service delivery and increase public participation, in the most appropriate way. If properly implemented, the Charter will promote transparency and accountability.
A Citizen’s Charter can lead to:
¤ Improved service delivery;
¤ Greater responsiveness of officials towards the public; and
¤ Greater public satisfaction with services.
Following steps are necessary for preparing a citizen’s charter.
(i) Formation of Task Force consisting of the concerned officials for preparing the charter
(ii) Listing the major services which the Organization will provide and those who will be provided the services (clients or customers in business terminology)
(iii) Consultation with Clients/Stakeholders/Staff (Primarily at cutting-edge level or implementation level) and their representative associations
(iv) Preparation of Draft Charter
• Circulating the draft charter to all concerned for getting their comments/ suggestions;
• RevisingtheCharter afterconsideringthesuggestions
(v) Consideration of the Charter by Core group (Core group is another group of officials which makes a peer review of the charter)
(vi) Modification of Charter by the Ministry/Department on the basis of suggestions/ observations of the Core Group
(vii) Approval by the Minister-in-charge
(viii) Submission of a copy of the charter to the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (In State governments, the copy will be sent to the State Administrative Reforms department)
(ix) Formal issue/release of Charter and uploading it on website
(x) Sending copies to People’s Representatives and all stakeholders
(xi) Appointment of a Nodal Officer to ensure effective implementation
The purpose of a Citizen’s Charter is to reduce the dissatisfaction of the citizen/consumer/ customer with the quality of service which government departments and public sector entities provide. To serve this end, Citizen Charter documents should adopt the following guidelines.
(i) The Charter must be simple.
(ii) While preparing the Citizen’s Charter, senior officers or experts must consult both cutting edgestaff who will implement it and thecitizens (ortheirrepresentative organisations) who will use it.
(iii) Merely pasting the Citizen’s Charter on an office notice board or wall will not produce attitudinal change in the service staff. The necessary climate has to be generated through regular training and motivation of staff.
(iv) The Charter should clearly enumerate the services on offer.
(v) Against each available service, the Charter should mention the persons eligible for it, the entitlement of the user, service standards and remedies available to the user in case of breach of standards.
(vi) Procedures for availing the services and the payable charges should be shown on website/ display boards/ booklets/ inquiry counters.
(vii) It should be made clear that all attempts will be made to provide the services as indicated in the Charter, but that they are not justiciable (or cannot be enforced by courts).
(viii) The Charter should contain provisions for getting feedback (experiences of users), performance audit (which shows whether the services are being delivered as promised in the charter) and a schedule for reviewing the Charter every six months based on experience.
(ix) If an organization provides distinct services, separate Charters can be prepared for each distinct service area.
We have already mentioned the components of Citizen’s Charters. More broadly, the Charter should begin with a brief statement about the services to be delivered. It has to mention the public interface of the service, for example, ticket reservation or passenger amenities in Railways, mail delivery, or premium services of postal department. The commitment to standards will specify the time limits and quality of service. The Charter will specify the staff or the service deliverers — where they can be found and what to expect of them. The Charters have to keep the people informed and especially consider the information they are likely to need for availing the service. The Charter has to consider any problem that may lead to failure of service delivery, and inform people about whom to contact in such contingencies and what help they can get from the personnel designated for this purpose. The Charter can mention how citizens can help the organization with their suggestions or in other ways.
Do’s and Don’ts for Implementing the Charters
Based on its experience with the implementation of Citizen’s Charters, the Administrative Reforms department has formulated the followingpositive and negativeguidelines for theirimplementation.
1. Proceed steadily.
2. List areas of interface.
3. Introduce the Charter through small steps.
4. Involve customers and staff in formulating and implementing the Citizen Charters.
5. Prepare a Master Plan for formulation and implementation of Charter over five years along with a budget for the period.
6. Win consumer confidence with small, highly visible measures.
7. Be ready to introduce changes in the Charter based on experience.
8. Inform people of the proposed commitments.
9. Usesimplelanguage.
10. Train the concerned staff.
11. Delegate powers.
12. Set up systems for feedback and independent scrutiny.
The following errors have to be avoided while preparing the Charters.
¤ Rushing with the Charters
¤ Being unrealistic
¤ Taking on excessive commitments
¤ Top-down formulation and implementation without inputs from operational levels
¤ Preparing a package for the whole Ministry/Department/Organization
¤ Promising more than what one can do
¤ Looking upon any Citizen Charter as a one-time exercise, with a final outcome
¤ Informing the citizens before one is ready to deliver the service
¤ Centralization
¤ Continuing blindly without regular periodic reassessment of performance
The elements of a good Charter are:
(i) Focus on Customer Requirements;
(ii) Simple Language;
(iii) Service Standards;
(iv) Effective Remedies;
(v) Training;
(vi) Delegation;
(vii) Feedback Mechanism;
(viii) Close Monitoring;
(ix) Periodic Review.
Citizens have the following expectations from Government Departments/Service Providers:
(i) Reliability or consistency in performance;
(ii) Responsiveness or timelyservice;
(iii) Credibility or having customer interest at heart;
(iv) Empathy or attention to customer’s needs;
(v) Courtesy and care or physical evidence of willingness to serve.
To sum up, the six principles of Citizen’s Charters are: published standards; openness and clarity of information; choice and consultation; courtesy and helpfulness; redress when things go wrong; and value for money.
A Model Format for Citizen’s Charter
1. The Aim/purpose of this Charter is to work for better quality in public service.
2. (Enumeration of services delivered by the department) We deliver the following services:-
(a) .......................... (b) .......................... (c) .......................... (d) ..........................
3. Our aim is to achieve the following service delivery/quality parameters
Nature of Service | Service Delivery Standard | Time limit (days/hours/minutes) | |
(a) | .......................... | ....................................... | ....................................... |
(b) | .......................... | ....................................... | ....................................... |
(c) | .......................... | ....................................... | ....................................... |
4. Availability of Information: Information on the following subjects can be obtained from our officers listed below.
1 | Information on | 2 | Name of the officer | 3 | Designation |
4 | Located at | 5 | Telephone/Fax/e-mail |
a. .................................................................................................................
b. .................................................................................................................
c. .................................................................................................................
5. For information outside office hours, please contact ——— Tel no ——
6. Availability of prescribed forms Title of the Form Fee to be paid
(a) .................................................................................................................
(b) .................................................................................................................
(c) .................................................................................................................
7. Forms are also available on the worldwide web at www (Where applicable) and can be
downloaded at …………………………
8. Complaint redressal systems
Courteous and helpful service will be extended by all the staff. If you have any complaints to make with respect to the delivery of the above standards, you are welcome to register your complaints with the following officers:
Name | Designation | Located at | Telephone/Fax/e-mail | |
(a) | .......................... | .......................... | ........................... | ..................................... |
(b) | .......................... | .......................... | ........................... | ..................................... |
(c) | .......................... | .......................... | ........................... | ..................................... |
We have also created a website for registering complaints at www ……… You are welcome to use this facility.
9. A centralized customer care centre/grievance redressal centre has also been established at where you can lodge your complaint.
10. All complaints will be acknowledged by us within days and final reply on the action taken will be communicated within days
11. Consultation with our users/stakeholders
• We welcome suggestions from our users.
• We conduct polls
• We hold periodical meetings with users/user representatives and if you wish to be associated with this please contact at .
• Please also enter your details at our website www … indicating your willingness to be available for consultation and survey on the points listed in the Charter.
12. We seek your co-operation on the following:
Citizen’s Charter is a joint effort between us and you to improve the quality of service provided by us and we request you to help us in the following way (give details relevant to the departments concerned)
(a) ......................................................................................................
(b) ......................................................................................................
13. Guide Book/Hand Book/Consumer Helpline
Wehavepublished aHandbookfortheguidanceofourcustomers.Pleasecontact Officer for more details.
Our helpline number is
Our customer information centre is located at Phone No. Other information
(a) ......................................................................................................
(b) ......................................................................................................
We are committed to constantly revise and improve the services being offered under the Charter.