Audit Report on the Processing of MetroCard Claims by New York City Transit

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This audit was conducted to determine whether New York City Transit (NYCT) had adequate processes and procedures in place to ensure the prompt handling of customer MetroCard claims received by the MetroCard Customers Claims (MCC) unit.  The audit also determined whether NYCT sufficiently monitors and measures its performance in responding to such claims to identify and correct potential weaknesses and enhance customer service.

NYCT is the largest component agency of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s (MTA) regional transportation network.  The MetroCard is the MTA’s automated fare collection medium and is accepted in all NYCT subway stations and on buses.  If a MetroCard is damaged or expired, a customer can generally go to a station booth and request that the station agent transfer any remaining balance to a new card for up to one year after the card’s expiration date.  However, in certain situations, if a MetroCard is either too damaged for the agent to read, or more than one but less than two years past its expiration date, a customer can seek card replacement or reimbursement by submitting a claim to NYCT either by mail, in person, online, or by phone.  The MCC unit is directly responsible for receiving, investigating and processing all such claims.

In Calendar Year 2013, NYCT received 405,521 MetroCard claims.  As of December 31, 2013, the MCC unit had processed 382,239 (94 percent) of them, resulting in customer reimbursements totaling approximately $6.8 million. 

Audit Findings and Conclusions

The MCC unit has strong controls in place throughout all phases of its processing of MetroCard claims.  In addition, the MCC unit closely monitors and measures its performance in responding to MCC claims.  However, the thoroughness of these controls slows the NYCT’s processing time, making it difficult for NYCT to expedite claims.  Accordingly, based on its current protocols, the MCC unit’s stated goal of 14 days to close out claims is neither realistic nor attainable.  In Calendar Year 2013, 94 percent of the MetroCard customer claims that NYCT received were processed and closed.  However, on average, NYCT took more than two months (or 67.6 days) to process more than 80 percent of those claims.  The MCC unit has requested that additional personnel temporarily assigned by NYCT to the MCC unit be permanently assigned to address this issue.

Audit Recommendation

To address the findings raised in this audit, we recommend that NYCT management should consider approving the MCC unit’s request to provide additional staffing to meet the needs of the unit and to enhance MetroCard claims processing.

Agency Response

NYCT officials agreed with the audit’s recommendation and stated that it has been implemented.