Calls in the void, imprecise answers… The magazine 60 million consumers and the defender of rights denounce in a survey published Thursday the obstacle course faced by the French who have difficulty with the Internet and want to take steps on the telephone with the administration.
Health insurance, family allowance fund or Pôle emploi… So many musics on hold that 30% of French people, cold with the internet, know only too well! And not just the oldest, according to a survey by 60 million consumers with the human rights defender.
“ A quarter of 18-24 year olds say they have encountered difficulties with online formalities, explains Lionel Maugain, journalist at 60 million consumers and co-author of the survey. It is not because you are comfortable on social networks that you are able to carry out an administrative procedure. The administrative jargon is quite confusing for the youngest. »
While the dematerialization of public services is accelerating, this problem of access is all the more glaring as 15% of French people do not have an internet connection at home and 28% do not consider themselves capable of carry out an administrative procedure online.
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As part of the survey, 1,532 calls were made, between September 26 and November 10, 2022, by callers representing three types of users (one person without internet, another with internet but with poor command of French, a middle-aged person with internet), as well as by a “lambda” caller to check for any differences in treatment. Admittedly, some progress has been made since a previous survey conducted in 2016: calls are no longer overcharged, cordiality is generally the order of the day and there is no longer any notable discrimination linked to the origin of users. But important shortcomings remain.
It is the Health Insurance which gets the dunce cap. For the survey, 302 calls were made, 72% were never successful. Lionel Maugain even describes grotesque situations. Only 22% of completed calls received “ an acceptable answer », and less than 5% of « precise answers “. “ When you are lucky enough to have an agent on the phone, too often you are referred to the website even though we have explained that we do not have internet or that we have difficulties with the tool. , he reports. It can be said nicely and politely but it is not the answer one expects. »
CAF and Health Insurance say they are facing an explosion of telephone requests since the health crisis. However, the survey notes some improvements, particularly at Pôle Emploi. For her part, the defender of rights urges the administrations to recruit more interlocutors to put an end to this breach of equality between the French.
(And with AFP)
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