Complaints about service delays and legal issues are referred to the director of public security Lt. Othman bin Nasser Al-Mohrej, said Brig. Ali Al-Mubarak, director of the 989 complaints center, during a meeting with the Human Rights Commission (HRC) in Riyadh on Wednesday.

Al-Mubarak said the center has been running for 16 years and specializes in receiving inquiries and observations, and addressing complaints about security officials and services provided to citizens.

“The center welcomes any comments or recommendations for improving the quality of services and protecting the rights of citizens. Work is under way to improve the performance at the center and provide the services, including provision of a daily report to the head of the department about all calls made to the center,” he said.

“The next development plan for the center is incorporating social networking sites on the Internet, and creating a specific application on smartphones to receive complaints and inquiries.”

He said the center receives between 300,000 and 400,000 telephone calls daily, 70 percent of which are inquiries about traffic violations, while other calls are general complaints, questions, reports about offenses, and labor and residency regulations.

Bandar Al-Aiban, president of the HRC, said in a statement after the meeting that the commission, in collaboration with the security agencies, “is focusing on promoting transparency in dealing with complaints and inquiries about human rights issues and the services provided to citizens.”

He said the center has the capacity to receive millions of calls, with a specialized team trained and available to answer such calls and refer them to the director for action.

“The security authorities have made significant progress over the recent period, and continues to promote and protect human rights when dealing with individuals who are exposed to wrongdoing or injustice.”

Al-Mohrej, during his speech, said the department was committed to upholding the rights of all citizens.