Starting January 1, 2013, petitioners may use video conferencing at the Executive Yuan joint services centers in Taichung, Kaohsiung, Hualien, and Chiayi to make appeals to the Cabinet.
Previously, petitioners were required to voice their complaints in Taipei before members of the Executive Yuan's Appeals and Petitions Committee. This was inconvenient for those living in other areas and discouraged some from exercising their right to petition. This new service is expected to remedy that by allowing citizens to conference with the Appeals and Petitions Committee from closer to home.
Applications to use the service may be made through a written submission to a Joint Services Center or via the Executive Yuan's website, http://www.ey.gov.tw. As of now, only the Chinese-language version of the website features this application function.
About 7.33 percent of petitions have been rescinded by competent agencies and 6.8 percent by the committee. Only 19.55 percent of petitioners have appealed against the administrative response to their petition.