The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has taken action against subscriptions that are difficult to get rid of. Last week, it adopted a final “click-to-cancel” rule requiring businesses to make canceling a subscription as easy as signing up.
As The Verge reports, under the rule, businesses can’t force customers to cancel a subscription using a method different from how they signed up. For example, if you signed up for a subscription with an online form, companies can’t require you to call them or chat with a live agent to cancel. The FTC will also require businesses to clearly disclose the terms of their subscriptions and get customer consent before charging them.
The rule, which was first proposed last year, applies to any automatically renewing subscription, ranging from difficult-to-cancel gym memberships to magazine subscriptions, and monthly payments for services like Amazon Prime. It also covers free trials that charge if you don’t cancel in time, along with continuity plans where you’ll receive periodic product shipments until you cancel.
“Too often, businesses make people jump through endless hoops just to cancel a subscription,” FTC chair Lina Khan said in the press release. “The FTC’s rule will end these tricks and traps, saving Americans time and money. Nobody should be stuck paying for a service they no longer want.”
The “click-to-cancel” rule is part of the FTC’s broader crackdown on shady subscription practices. Earlier this. year, the agency sued Adobe for offering “deceiving” subscriptions that are hard to cancel. The FTC also sued Amazon over claims it tricked people into signing up for Prime and slammed Microsoft’s recent changes to its Xbox Game Pass subscription.
Most of the provisions in the “click-to-cancel” rule will go into effect 180 days after it’s published in the Federal Register.
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