New York City Becomes the First U.S. City to Ban Deceptive Subscription Practices
New York City residents looking to escape the grip of recurring subscription fees now have a new ally in their corner. As of Thursday, the city has rolled out its click-to-cancel rule, which mandates that businesses must make canceling a subscription just as straightforward as signing up. For instance, if you can join a gym online, you shouldn’t have to call or visit in person to cancel your membership.
This initiative marks the first implementation of such a rule at the municipal level, following a federal version that was struck down due to procedural issues. The city anticipates that this could save New Yorkers between $21.5 million and $162.5 million each year. NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) Commissioner Samuel Levine views this as a significant step in holding companies accountable when federal measures fall short. “No one should have to endure 45 minutes of hold music just to stop paying for something they never wanted,” stated NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani. “If a company can take your money with one click, you should be able to get your money back with one click. And now, if they won’t let you cancel, the City is coming for them.”
Levine, who previously served as the Federal Trade Commission’s consumer protection chief, attempted to implement the click-to-cancel rule on a national scale. He describes the experience of launching it in NYC as “night and day.” “We proposed this rule this year. We finalized it this year. It’s taking effect this year. This is the speed of government as it should be,” Levine shared in an exclusive interview. While he takes pride in his work with the FTC and considers it a “model” for other jurisdictions, he notes that it took over four years to achieve, ultimately failing to provide the relief Americans needed. Although the FTC under the current chair has taken initial steps toward a similar rule, Levine believes more cities will take the lead.
In New York, consumers can now access a new portal to file complaints if they feel a business has provided unclear subscription terms, delayed their cancellation, or failed to notify them about auto-renewals. After a complaint is submitted, the DCWP will review it, potentially reaching out for more details, and will work to recover consumers’ funds and assist with cancellations. If a pattern of noncompliance is detected at a particular business, it could trigger further investigations and legal actions, with fines starting at $525 per violation.
The mayor’s Public Interest Technology (PIT) Crew developed the portal in just 10 weeks. Levine assures consumers that this experience will be vastly different from the recently launched America.gov, which he describes as “just an AI chatbot layered on top of the federal government’s existing infrastructure.” When users submit a complaint through the click-to-cancel portal, Levine emphasizes, “they’re not going to be diverted into a chatbot doom loop. We’re going to have actual people whose full-time job is to help them.”
He also reassures that it won’t feel like a trip to the DMV for a license renewal. “If we want to restore people’s faith in government and its ability to deliver, we need to show that government can create excellent products. We need to demonstrate that every experience isn’t going to the DMV. And I mean no offense to our colleagues at the DMV,” Levine remarked. “People have really bad associations with interacting with the government, and that can deter them from filing complaints. You can have the best laws in the world, but if the people you’re trying to protect don’t want to engage with the government to share their experiences, those laws won’t be effective.”
