New provisions on data exchange and interoperability in the new year [3]
Public authorities are required by law to provide services without requesting documents from individuals/legal entities if the data contained in such documents are available in the information resources and can be consumed or provided through the MConnect interoperability platform.
The obligation was expressly laid down in the Law no.142/2018 [6] on data exchange and interoperability, by completing Article 6 - Connecting to the interoperability platform and participating in data exchange.
In the same context, the Code of Contraventions of the Republic of Moldova [7] was also amended, by establishing the administrative liability for violating the data exchange and interoperability legislation. The new provisions are contained in Article 2501 of the Code and stipulate sanctions in the form of a fine ranging between 36 and 60 conventional units applied to the person in charge and a fine between 120 and 240 conventional units applied to the legal entity in case of deviations from the regulatory framework in force.
In addition, the unjustified refusal of the data provider to ensure the availability of data and to provide data through the interoperability platform or the unjustified refusal to provide a public service by motivating the refusal by the applicant’s failure to submit required documents, if the public service provider can access the data contained in these documents via the interoperability platform, is sanctioned by a fine ranging between 30 and 90 conventional units and deprivation of the right to hold a certain position or the right to carry out a certain activity for a period of 3 months - 1 year.
The new legislative amendments become effective on January 18, 2021.
The MConnect interoperability platform was developed and is managed by the e-Governance Agency to facilitate the electronic exchange of data, in real time, between public administration authorities, thus increasing the efficiency and the quality of public service provision, without requesting data from citizens and businesses in the form of certificates, reports, etc.