MPALA — Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) has made a major upgrade to its contact center offering with the rollout of state of the art Interactive Voice Response (IVR) technology.
The changes were announced by Ag. Assistant Commissioner, Public and Corporate Affairs Ian Rumanyika on Friday June 18.
He said that the URA ensured that the process of reaching out to it through the toll-free service helplines (0800-117000/0800-217000) is not only much simpler but also more reliable and delightful.
“We have matched the technology upgrade with human capital additions to ensure that we have the right people on the other end of the call to walk the clients through their tax compliance needs, tax education inquiries and so much more,” Rumanyika said, adding that the contact center upgrade has started with the IVR solution with a WhatsApp number option to follow shortly.
Rumanyika described the new improvements as” a game changer in the way we interact with our customers, during the COVID-19 disruptions”.
This enhancement comes in handy at this time when taxpayers are filing their final tax returns and making their tax payments ahead of the June 30 2021 deadline.
June 30, 2021 is the deadline for filing and paying Income Tax and failure results in penalties and interest.
URA Commissioner General, John Rujoki Musinguzi at a recent event committed that, “URA officers in all our stations across the country are ready to support the public in meeting this crucial deadline”.
In observance of the SOPs for the COVID-19 Pandemic, he encouraged our taxpayers to utilize the online services to file returns and make payments via www.ura.go.ug”.
What are the new improvements that the clients can now enjoy;-
1. Multiple language options with English and Luganda already available during the pilot phase with more languages lined up for addition.
Rumanyika said a service menu with five different options has been introduced to ensure faster turnaround time for client’s inquiries.
a. Option 1: Self-service (Resetting TIN passwords and Unlocking accounts)
b. Option 2: Payments, TIN registration, Kakasa with EFRIS and other domestic tax-related issues
c. Option 3: Customs import and export enquiries.
d. Option 4: Staff misconduct or tax evasion (Whistleblowing).
e. Option 5: Other general inquiries
The other new improvement is the ability to Self-Serve where clients can initiate password resets and unlock accounts for their TINs.
The functionality of routing clients’ calls to agents with the most appropriate skills and access to respond to their requests and offer appropriate service solutions has also been added.
He said all URA contact center’s service hours have been extended to run from 7:00 am to 11:00 pm Monday to Friday and from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm on weekends and public holidays.
“We encourage taxpayers to reach us through our improved contact center instead of making physical visits to our service centers to mitigate exposure to COVID-19.”
