A resident of Bet Shemesh visited the reception branch of a company handling housing assistance on behalf of the Ministry of Construction and Housing. The complainant presented to the staff of the branch a digital disability card, saved in his mobile phone, granting him exemption from standing in line.
The staff of the branch did not permit the complainant to receive service without standing in line, since the certificate was not hard copy but digital. According to them, the certificate did not specify that the complainant was entitled to exemption from standing in line.
In his complaint to the Office of the Ombudsman, the complainant claimed that the National Insurance Institute had started issuing digital disability cards, and that his right to exemption from standing in line should be honored even if he presented a digital certificate of disability and not a hard copy certificate.
Although the complainant clarified that his personal issue had been resolved, the Office contacted the Ministry of Construction and Housing on the matter. The Ministry subsequently acted swiftly and sensitively and instructed the companies handling housing assistance on its behalf to honor an official disability card granting exemption from standing in line, even if it was digital.