The most remarkable change in 1994 was the creation of a direct complaints channel and the abolition of the referral system. Citizens could now file complaints directly to the Ombudsman, who therefore handled complaints from receipt to conclusion, a more independent and autonomous process. However the expansion of power also magnified the undersupply of resources of the Ombudsman in the pre-transition period. The number of complaints rose dramatically, increasing 17-fold compared with 1989 but met with personnel levels that had only tripled. Just 90 staff had to deal with 62 departments of approximately 180,000 public servants. The Ombudsman responded to the increased load by eliminating the mandatory requirement to prepare a report to the Head of the Department. Alternatively, with the consent of the complainant, an investigation could be remitted to the relevant Department, removing the mandatory requirement for investigation.