ALBANY – According to an audit released today by New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli, although there are more than 450,000 Do Not Call registry complaints made annually by New York State residents, only two cases were referred for enforcement in the past two years.
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“The Do Not Call Registry was created to help consumers avoid unwanted, nuisance calls from telemarketers, but requests to investigate violations of the law are going unanswered,” DiNapoli said. “Without enforcement of the law, telemarketers will continue to bother people who do not want calls, attempt to steal personal information or take money from the unsuspecting. Officials at the state’s Division of Consumer Protection need to do a better job putting unwanted calls on mute.”
The New York State Do Not Call Law allows consumers to register their mobile and landline phone numbers on a national registry to reduce unsolicited telemarketing calls. The Department of State’s Division of Consumer Protection is responsible for enforcing the 2001 law. Initially, New York consumers registered their phone numbers on a statewide registry. Then, in 2003, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Federal Communications Commission together created the National Do Not Call Registry. As of Dec. 31, 2017, more than 14 million New York phone numbers were on the registry.
DiNapoli’s auditors found the number of Do Not Call complaints by state residents more than doubled from 217,031 in 2014 to 454,100 in 2017, but the number of cases referred to legal counsel at the division fell from 15 to one over that time period. The amount of fines levied dropped from $1.9 million to $44,000. In 2017 and 2016 combined, the division referred only two cases to legal counsel for further enforcement, versus 29 in 2015 and 2014 combined.
New York’s Do Not Call program has five staff including a clerk and an investigator devoted full time to Do Not Call. It also has some shared investigative and legal staff. Auditors found personnel turnover and vacancies in key positions at the Do Not Call program hampered its effectiveness. The position of director of investigations, which supervises the Do Not Call unit and decides whether to move forward with a case or close it, had been vacant for approximately 18 months beginning in November 2016. Department officials said the position was filled in May 2018.
DiNapoli called on the Division of Consumer Protection to:
1. Assess current and planned Do Not Call enforcement activities to determine appropriate staffing levels, identify timing benchmarks for key enforcement efforts, and identify improvement opportunities;
2. Develop, implement, and communicate written procedures to division staff that address the accuracy, completeness, and comparability of internally maintained Do Not Call information; and
3. Evaluate the potential for using FTC resources and strategies and consumer-friendly alternatives to notarized affidavits to enhance the Division’s Do Not Call enforcement capabilities, and document the resulting decisions.
The Department of State agreed with the audit’s findings. Its response is included in the audit.
