Annoyed about having to jump through hoops when canceling a subscription? Starting Oct. 1, New York City residents will have the right to a simplified “click-to-cancel” policy.
The rule, announced this week by Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani and New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) Commissioner Samuel A.A. Levine, forces companies to clearly explain subscription terms and to clearly disclose consumers’ rights when buying or canceling subscriptions.
Companies will also need to provide customers with a straightforward cancellation process via the same method they signed up with. So, if you signed up for something online, you should be able to cancel online; no phone calls necessary.
“Whether it’s hidden fees that suddenly appear at checkout or subscriptions that take one click to sign up for and a dozen steps to cancel, the result is the same: working people pay more while corporations profit,” said Mayor Mamdani. “That ends now.”
The option is expected to save New Yorkers $21.5 million to $162.5 million annually, according to the Roosevelt Institute.
The new rule will be enforced by the DCWP. New York joins states such as Utah, Idaho, California, Massachusetts, Georgia, Minnesota, Colorado, Illinois, and Arkansas, which have already enacted click-to-cancel protections in recent years, Engadget notes.
The rule technically applies only to people living in New York City, though New York State residents may receive additional protections. As the mayor’s office notes, the state has two laws on the books “related to Click to Cancel,” including one that requires health clubs to permit online cancellations if people signed up online, and one that requires transparency about automatic renewals.
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During the Biden administration, the FTC finalized a federal Click-to-Cancel rule that applied nationwide. But when Trump took office, the agency delayed enforcement following a lawsuit by the Internet & Television Association (NCTA), a trade group representing some of America’s largest telecom and internet firms, which argued the rule was an overreach by the FTC.
Alongside the new Click-to-Cancel rule, the mayor’s office also proposed a new “junk fees” rule, which is set for a public comment period and public hearing on Aug. 7. The proposed rule would force businesses to advertise the full price of goods and services up-front, including all mandatory charges and fees. A similar FTC rule went into effect last year.
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