Hawaii residents who have concerns about professionals in the state can now file complaints online.

The state’s Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs has announced an updated website that accepts digitally filed complaints about professionals in regulated industries, such as the health care, motor vehicle and building industries.

Prior to this, everyone had to file complaints using paper only. That slowed the Regulated Industries Complaints Office’s efforts to process and investigate complaints.

Civil Beat reported in 2019 that one Maui woman who reported alleged assault at the hands of a local physician filed her complaint by printing out a PDF, signing it and mailing to Honolulu, and received a letter by mail acknowledging her complaint one month later.

“If a complaint comes into our intake unit and they want to ask me a question about it, somebody hand-walks that file over to me,” said Daria Loy-Goto, RICO’s former complaints and enforcement officer, at the time. 

Now RICO staff can actually receive and review a file online.

“During the portal’s first ten days of operation after its soft launch, RICO received six consumer complaints electronically,” Jayson Horiuchi, spokesman for the consumer department, wrote in a press release.

Click here to file a complaint.