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 third quarter of calendar year 2009.
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 July through September 2009, the Bureau received 34,925 total complaints regarding wireline telecommunication services, with 29,874 complaints in the area of TCPA issues alone, and 7414 complaints in connection with unsolicited fax advertisements. This compares with 39,546 total complaints during the July-September 2008 period, with 33,449 involving with TCPA issues.
In the area of inquiries, the Bureau also received 12,754 inquiries in connection with wireline telecommunications, including 7335 inquiries dealing with TCPA issues, during the period from July through September 2009. This compares with 24,981 total inquiries during the third quarter of calendar year 2008, of which 18,441 were related to TCPA issues.
