US agency adopts rule to make it easier for consumers to cancel unwanted subscriptions

The Federal Trade Commission adopted a final rule Wednesday that will require businesses to make it easy for consumers to cancel unwanted subscriptions and memberships.

The “click-to-cancel” rule will prohibit retailers and other businesses from misleading people about subscriptions and require them to obtain consumers’ consent before charging for memberships, auto-renewals and programs linked to free trial offers.

The FTC said businesses must also disclose when free trials or other promotional offers will end and let customers end recurring subscriptions as easily as they started them. Most of the provisions take effect effect 180 days after the rule is published in the Federal Register, the agency said.

“Too often, businesses make people jump through endless hoops just to cancel a subscription,” FTC Chair Lina Khan said in a statement. “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.”