By the end of the year, a total of 35 new exclusively online procedures will have been introduced and 126 adapted. This will bring the total number of municipal procedures available online to 292, nearly 50% of the overall total. Identification and signature mechanisms such as idCat Mòbil and Cl@ve PIN are also being simplified.

Important procedures which can be conducted using simpler identification systems include documents proving inclusion on the city register, parking cards for people with disabilities and road tax discounts. New procedures now available online include special authorisations for applications or extension requests for terraces due to Covid-19, the telecare service and economic aid for temporary stays in homes for the elderly.

‘Pocket Barcelona’

Along the same lines, a new mobile app called ‘Barcelona a la butxaca’ (Pocket Barcelona) enables users to carry out various procedures which were available individually on separate apps before. It also offers information of interest and a personal area for storing the services and content of most interest and accessing them quickly.

Adapted procedures available on the new app include:

• Proof of inclusion on the municipal register of residents.
• Payment of municipal taxes, public prices and fines with a credit/debit card or direct debit.
• Appointments for Citizen Help and Information Offices.
• Negative debt certificate.
• Road tax discount for zero-emissions or electric vehicles.
• Road tax discount for owners of historical vehicles.
• Road tax discount for eco-rated petrol vehicles with emissions of up to 120 g/km of CO₂
• Consultation of images or video footage of traffic infringements.

The following will also soon be available:

• A section for incidents in public highways.
• Identification of the driver responsible for an infringement for vehicle owners or renters of vehicles who have been notified of a denouncement for a traffic offence.
• Gaudir+ registration, to access various facilities and museums for free or with discounts.

‘Barcelona a la butxaca’ is a project which responds to the strategic plan for digital communication, which the City Council has been implementing since 2017. The plan includes the unification of apps from a functional point of view with the goal of providing better citizen service and making the maintenance of digital channels more efficient.

More online procedures

Since the resumption of administrative timescales on 25 May, a total of 1,200,459 administrative procedures have been carried out via the 010 freephone number, by internet and at Citizen Help and Information Offices. This represents an increase of 11% compared to the same period last year.

Support provided by the 010 phone service has been bolstered to handle the increase in the volume of calls, with an extra 73 information staff and additional phone lines (from 150 to 200). Work is being done to add a further 60 lines and include a callback service for when lines are busy.

An OAC callback service has also been set up, offering personalised phone support to provide people with general information and advice on procedures.