The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has released its quarterly report on inquiries and complaints made by consumers to the agency’s Consumer & Government Affairs Bureau during the second quarter of 2011.
The Bureau regularly tracks inquiries and complaints from consumers on matters within the scope of the Commission’s jurisdiction. In the area of wireline telecommunications matters, the Bureau is particularly interested in instances of “cramming” (the placing of unauthorized, misleading or deceptive charges on a telephone bill) and “slamming” (the practice of changing a subscriber’s telecommunications service provider or calling plan without the subscriber’s permission). The Commission also tracks violations of the Federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), which includes regulations covering both the “Do Not Call” registry and unsolicited fax advertisements.
During the period from April through June 2011, the Bureau received a total of 29,375 complaints regarding wireline telecommunication services, with 26,319 complaints (89.6% of the total) in the area of TCPA issues alone, and more than 5847 complaints in connection with unsolicited fax advertisements. This compares with 25,837 total complaints during the April-June 2010 period, with 21,854 (84.6% of the total) involving TCPA issues.
In the area of inquiries, the Bureau also received 5908 inquiries in connection with wireline telecommunications, including 3759 inquiries dealing with TCPA issues, during the period from April through June 2011. This compares with 12,277 total inquiries during the second quarter of calendar year 2010, of which 7317 were related to TCPA issues.
