The rule revives a proposed FTC protection that was abandoned last year.
If you live in New York city, cancelling subscriptions should get a lot easier starting October 1. New York City Mayor Mamdani has announced a new “Click-to-Cancel” rule, enforced by the city’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, that requires companies to provide “simple, straightforward subscription cancellation.” As the name suggests, the rule forbids companies from letting you breezily click on a few boxes to sign up online, while requiring you to navigate a byzantine network of phone calls and carrier pigeons to unsubscribe. Besides making good on campaign promises, the new rule also revives one of the Federal Trade Commission’s proposed protections under former FTC Chair Lina Khan.
New York City’s new protection applies to “automatic renewal and continuous service subscriptions,” according to the Mayor’s announcement, and requires companies to clearly disclose their subscription terms to customers. Moreover, the rule also says that companies can’t require you to pay to return any item they gave you freely as part of a subscription.
Businesses that violate the rule will be subject to “restitution for consumers” and penalties that start at $525 per violation. The rule specifically applies to people living in New York City, but the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection notes that it also overlaps with New York State laws that govern how businesses accept notice of a cancellation and what they’re required to offer to customers with a subscription that automatically renews.
The Click-to-Cancel rule is being paired with a proposed junk fees rule that New York will open to public comment on August 7. The junk fees rule attempts to pre-empt hidden, mandatory fees by requiring companies to advertise the full price of their goods upfront. Mamdani campaigned on eliminating corporate exploitation, but tackling junk fees was also one of Khan’s focuses as FTC Chair. As luck would have it, Lina Khan served as one of Mamdani’s transition co-chairs.
The FTC’s plans to enforce a national click-to-cancel rule fell apart in July 2025, after the commission was reshaped by President Donald Trump and judges in the Eight Circuit Court of Appeals decided to vacate the rule. For now, click-to-cancel protections remain in states like Utah, Idaho, California, Massachusetts, Georgia, Minnesota, Colorado, Illinois and Arkansas.
