In 17 Moldovan cities and 9 embassies abroad, unified public services centers will be piloted as part of a program approved by the Government on Wednesday, IPN reports.

The centers are designed as additional points of access to public services provided by the National Social Insurance Company and the Public Services Agency.

The centers will not substitute the branches of these agencies, and beneficiaries will still have the option of requesting their services directly.

In other words, a unified center will be a channel for providing public services whereby the front-office work is taken over by a third party entity. This means the centers will handle applications for public services before forwarding them to a back-office agency that delivers the results.

The center’s clerk, essentially a city hall employee, will also have the duty to inform citizens and help them with submitting applications or receiving public services online. Services include cadaster documents, civil registration documents, social benefits, construction permits etc.

Similarly, Moldovan citizens abroad will be able to request such assistance at consular offices.

The pilot period for each center is nine months since launching.