The “Motto” of the Registrar General’s Department is “We Aim to Satisfy.” To this effect it means serving the customers well. The RGD revolutionized its actions when the Agency implemented door to door delivery of certificates to our increasing number of customers. Prior to 1962 the RGD mostly utilized the services of the Jamaica Postal and Telecommunication Agency to deliver certificates to customers island wide and overseas.
The increasing demand to submit a Birth Certificate and/or Marriage Certificate to obtain documents such as Passport, National Identification Card, Tax Registration Number and Visa, entry into Schools and Colleges, impacted significantly on the volume of certificates that were sent to the Post Office for dispatch.
As the demand for these very essential documents increased, the Registrar General’s Department from time to time implemented several ways in meeting the needs of delivery of certificates to the general public through:
1. Jamaica Postal and Telecommunication Agency
2. Erecting booths to facilitate customers pick-up service in the parking lot on the RGD’s Twickenham Park facility.
3. Acquiring the use of the three Regional offices at the time for pick ups
4. Opening Head Office on Saturdays and inviting the general public who have applied for certificates to come in and collect
5. Acquiring the use of staff to work on week ends to deliver certificates at various locations across the Island to customers.
6. Certificates were delivered to overseas customers by DHL, Fedex and Air Pak express courier services.
In order for customers to collect these certificates from the Post Office, our customers were required to produce a valid identification. Very few certificates were delivered as most customers did not have valid identification and needed their certificates to apply for ID, Passport. Thousands of unclaimed certificates were filed in cabinets at all the offices uncollected. This prompted the idea of having staff to assist with delivering certificates on week ends at various locations, which was very successful.
In 2007 the Registrar General’s Department concurred with the National Contract Commission to invite individuals to submit tender responses that should be used to assess their ability to deliver Certificates Island wide. There were different rates for delivering certificates to particular locations/zones to pay on a per package basis.
The Agency has negotiated contracts with seven (7) different couriers operating in twelve (12) zones across the Island. Certificates are dispatched for door to door deliveries twice per day 7:00am and 3:00pm. Regular applications for certificates are delivered within five days, 7-Day are delivered within seven working days and Next Day Express within Forty-Eight (48) hours. Failure to deliver the certificates resulted in a penalty imposed on the courier for lack of performance where the failure to satisfy the customer occurred as a result of untimely delivery of certificates. Where there is a challenge in contacting the customer for delivery, the courier is obligated by contract to return all undelivered items on the Agency.
The undelivered certificate is duly updated by its 12 digit-receipt number on the Application Tracking System (ATS), explaining the reason the certificate was not delivered.
Since implementation, the total certificates dispatched to customers are Five Million, Four Hundred and Twenty-Nine Thousand, Eight Hundred and Eighty-Eight.
Despite the challenges with deliveries at times, having the couriers to deliver certificates door to door are the most successful to date. The most current performance assessment indicates that next day and seven day certificates are delivered within one day and regular certificates are delivered within three days.