SINGAPORE - The Municipal Services Office (MSO) will pilot an initiative to automatically channel routine cases like dirty residential areas directly to contractors, so that these can be resolved more quickly.

This will be done through via its existing smartphone application, OneService, which allows people to report on municipal matters easily without needing to know which agency is responsible for them.

The initiative means government officers no longer need to process straightforward cases, which will be routed to the right parties.

Minister-in-charge of the MSO Grace Fu on Wednesday (March 04) said her office aims to tap technology to connect with residents and understand their diverse needs.

More than 460,000 feedback cases have been reported through the OneService app as of last December.

Ms Fu said 89 per cent of these cases are automatically routed to the right agency for prompt action through artificial intelligence, which frees up agencies to focus on rectifying ground issues.

To improve accessibility to services, a OneService Lite version will be introduced so residents can scan QR codes and submit feedback in as little as two clicks, without having to pre-install the app.

The QR codes will be located in areas with high pedestrian traffic, such as at Housing Board lift landings.

Extra functions will be added to the app as well. For instance, residents who want to book multi-purpose halls and sports facilities will no longer need to contact different individual offices to do so.

Instead, they can simply click on a new feature to find and book community spaces offered by town councils and public agencies.

New reporting categories such as smoking and high-rise littering will also be added to the app for residents to highlight specific concerns for investigation.

Residents will also soon be able to submit their feedback through popular social messaging apps like WhatsApp and Telegram, guided by an AI-powered chatbot.

Ms Fu said the MSO has made good progress in coordinating cases across sectors and responding promptly to residents.

Nearly 60 per cent of the app's post-case poll ratings are either four or five stars, and the office aims to raise this to 70 per cent by the end of this year, she added.