Ask HN: Why do government services force you to call them or write a letter?

I have caused so many problems for myself simply because I’m anxious about phone calls and procrastinate calling government services for a year or more at a time.

Why do they insist we call them, often to wait on hold for an hour and not even get through to a human?

Surely it would be better for everyone if we could use a modern ticketing system for asynchronous communication.

I’ve found this problem consistently in both the US and the UK.