FTC Is Finalizing 'Click to Cancel' Rule

It's part of 'Time Is Money' consumer initiative
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 12, 2024 1:25 PM CDT
FTC Is Finalizing 'Click to Cancel' Rule
"You shouldn’t have to navigate a maze just to cancel unwanted subscriptions and recurring payments," Biden said.   (Getty Images/Zhanna Danilova)

The Federal Trade Commission is finalizing a "click to cancel" rule that will make it as easy to cancel subscriptions to services like gym memberships or cable packages as it is to sign up. "For a lot of services, it takes one or two clicks on your phone to sign up. It should take one or two clicks on your phone to end the service," says White House Domestic Policy Advisor Neera Tanden, per ABC News. Tanden and other administration officials say some companies deliberately make customers jump through a lot of hoops to cancel services so they "can hold onto your money for longer," reports CBS News.

"I'm tired of seeing hardworking Americans get played for suckers," President Biden said in a post on X Monday, announcing "a series of actions to crack down on how big corporations—through paperwork, hold times, and scams—add hassles to Americans' daily lives."

  • He said that as well as making it easier to cancel subscriptions and memberships, federal agencies are planning "to stop marketers that use fake reviews from undercutting honest businesses."
  • The administration is also cracking down on "customer service 'doom loops,' frustrating cycles that customers experience when seeking assistance," Biden said. He said the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau "is working to help consumers talk to a real person by pressing a single button."

  • The regulations, which will be rolled out in the weeks and months ahead, are part of an initiative the administration calls "Time Is Money," the AP reports. Tanden says the initiative isn't targeting a particular company or "shaming corporations writ large," ABC reports. She says that with "click to cancel," the focus is "ensuring that consumers and their choices are what is driving decision-making in the market, not the practices of companies that make it hard for people to switch."
  • Earlier this year, Wired reported that lobbyists for cable companies were pushing back against the rule, saying it would make it harder to offer better deals to customers who are trying to cancel.
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