National
Development Agency

Alongside New Hungary Points accessible in 176 settlements around the country and the customer service unit operating in Budapest, which has so far only been accessible via telephone and the Internet, the National Development Agency has opened a face-to-face central customer service office to provide the highest possible standard services for potential applicants and project hosts already approved EU funding. Services are now available for anyone interested in the office building of the National Development Agency located in the 7th District of Budapest on the corner Wesselényi and Kazinczy Street. According to plans, information sessions for applicants will also be organised in the new conference room set up in this office.

The National Development Agency has been continually developing and extending the scope of its customer service activities over the past few years. This is also required on account of how huge interest has been shown in EU funding calls: over 45,000 submitted applications and some 20,000 applications approved funding were registered up to the end of March in connection with calls for funding announced within the framework of the New Hungary Development Plan. Potential applicants interested in EU calls for applications and project hosts in the process of implementing their respective projects need help in connection with paper work accompanying these calls, in spite of how administrative procedures have been substantially simplified over the past.

Almost every single piece of information in connection with EU calls for applications is posted on the award-winning NDA website, via the interactive services of which project hosts are able to receive a great deal of help. Applicants are able to monitor, even on a daily basis, the assessment status of their application, or the status of their invoice waiting to be paid within the institutional system involved in application processing, which service is unique in Europe. Moreover, the range of tasks tying in with applications that can now be performed online is continuously expanding. NDA introduced a single window customer service system back in 2007 to efficiently provide information to clients; consequently, the Agency and organisations engaging in application processing can be contacted via the same central telephone number and email address. The Agency’s application information unit operating in compliance with the ISO 9001:2001 standard annually handles some 40,000 calls and emails, hence providing assistance for several thousands of applicants.

Applicants will from now on also have the opportunity to access services in person, which up till recently have only been available via telephone and email, at the central customer service office opened on the corner of Wesselényi and Kazinczy Street. In addition, two computer workstations are also available free of charge at this office, which offers the opportunity to compile EU applications or make changes to account statements to be submitted at the office itself. Customer service employees will accept any potential complaints made in connection with EU calls for applications, and clients will naturally be given a reply within the deadline period stipulated under relevant legislation. NDA employees will be organising information sessions on the announcement of specific new schemes and the implementation of EU-funded projects in the conference room set up in the customer service office. Office employees will post information on these events in advance on the NDA website. 

The NDA customer service office is open to applicants during the same hours as the telephone customer service unit, i.e., from Monday through Thursday 8 a.m.-4 p.m. and Friday 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Users logged in to the website www.nfu.hu are able to make an appointment in advance.