While the FTC can currently pursue those types of remedies in specific sectors where cancellation rules exist, such as telemarketing, there is no such rule covering the economy as a whole, Khan said. For each violation of the rule, companies would be on the hook for potentially tens of thousands of dollars a day in fines - not to mention the consumer refunds the FTC could seek under the rule. “Companies should not be able to manipulate consumers into paying for subscriptions that they don’t want.”īroadly speaking, the rule change would prohibit companies from trying to retain customers through deceptive or burdensome tactics intended to stymie or delay them from quitting a subscription, such as by making customers mail in paperwork to cancel a subscription they initially signed up for online. “The idea here is pretty simple,” Khan said.

It would affect millions of consumers in virtually every aspect of their lives, as subscription-based goods and services have become commonplace in industries as varied as music distribution, video gaming and pet care.Īmericans should not have to jump through hoops or be hounded by unwanted retention offers just to cancel their subscriptions, FTC Chair Lina Khan told reporters on a conference call Wednesday. The FTC regulation could hit some of America’s biggest retailers and online platforms and a huge range of smaller businesses. Products subject to the new rule would include gym memberships, digital streaming and e-commerce, cable TV service, traditional print media and more. The proposed rule change announced Thursday would apply to vast swaths of the US economy, covering both digital and physical subscriptions.

New rules from the US government could soon let Americans more easily cancel free trials and subscriptions they no longer want, according to the Federal Trade Commission.

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