May 22 (Japan Times) - Many Japanese local municipalities are struggling to distribute the universal ¥100,000 coronavirus cash relief due to a heavy workload resulting from handling online applications.
About 97 percent of Japan’s municipal offices started accepting applications online, but the distribution of the handout has started in less than 60 percent of them, according to the internal affairs ministry.
At local municipalities, officials are giving up holidays in the hope of delivering as quickly as possible the one-time cash relief to all residents, a key measure by the central government to tackle the COVID-19 fallout.
Applications are accepted online via the government’s Mynaportal website or by mail. Local authorities are responsible for distributing the money to residents.
But officials are having trouble with checking information provided online against that included in the basic resident register. It takes time because there is no computer system to do it all at once.
They are also struggling with many mistakes. For instance, they may come across an application by a person who is not the head of a household and is requesting relief for somebody who lives with the applicant but is a member of a different household.
Tokyo’s Shinagawa Ward has received some 11,600 applications. But payment procedures have been completed for only 680 cases as officials had to correct mistakes one by one.
