Some 6,000 Russian bureaucrats are facing fines after ignoring, neglecting or mishandling public complaints in 2016.
The civil servants will face a collective fine of approximately 30 million rubles ($525,000,) or an average penalty of $88 each. Another 14,000 officials will be formally reprimanded by Russia’s Prosecutor General's Office, the RBC news outlet reported Tuesday.
Most of the officials took too long to deal with complaints, forgot to update members of the public on their appeals, or redirected complaints to the wrong department. In roughly 2,000 cases, bureaucrats simply ignored citizens' complains altogether.
Under Russian law, officials can only be fined within three months of committing a violation, RBC reported. Older offenses warrant a formal reprimand.
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