The Federal Communications Commission processes 95 percent of the citizen complaints it receives but does a poor job of tracking how it resolves them, congressional auditors reported Thursday.
The Government Accountability Office said the agency “needs to improve how it collects and analyzes data on complaints received, investigations conducted and enforcement actions taken to better manage its enforcement program.”
In response, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said “the GAO put forward valuable recommendations” and that prior to the report’s release, the commission had “identified these issues and is already in the process of implementing measures to address them.”
Martin also said that since he became chairman, the commission has been responding to 100 percent of consumer complaints and has collected a record amount of fines, forfeitures and consent decree payments.
The GAO analysis examined data encompassing 454,000 complaints between 2003 and 2006.
The GAO, the investigative arm of Congress, said the FCC processed about 95 percent of the complaints it received, opened about 46,000 investigations and closed 39,000.
About 9 percent of the closed investigations resulted in an enforcement action, while 83 percent resulted in no enforcement. The GAO said it could not determine why the investigations were closed without action because “FCC does not systematically collect these data.”
The agency did its own analysis and said the vast majority of closures were due to a lack of information or a determination that no violation had occurred.
The report criticized the agency for failing to set performance goals which prevent it from “assuring Congress and other stakeholders that it is meeting its enforcement mission.”
The investigation was sought by Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., chairman of the House Energy and Commerce telecommunications and the Internet subcommittee. Markey used the results to push for state enforcement authority over the wireless industry.
“The GAO’s report makes clear that any legislation establishing national consumer protection…