For Ryan, it was like a recurring nightmare each month when the $15 charge showed up on his credit card bill from a meditation and mindfulness app that he had tried to cancel six months earlier.
No matter how many times he filled out the app company’s cancellation form online, the charges persisted month after month—and he never seemed any closer to the elusive “peace” and “well-being” promised by the app itself.
Ryan is just one of millions of Americans frustrated by deceptive subscription cancellation practices that make it incredibly difficult to quit recurring services – even when you actively try.
But relief may finally be in sight as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has now approved a sweeping new “click-to-cancel” rule cracking down on false, misleading, and confusing cancellation processes used across industries.
Final Rule Targets Fine Print and Complex Cancellation Paths
At its core, the new rule aims to make sure what the Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Maria Cantwell calls “the small print doesn’t become a consumer trap for inappropriate charges.”
Specifically, it requires companies to make sure consumers provide full informed consent before even sharing payment details, discloses all the facts up front in clear language (not ten-page legal documents), and offers an immediate online cancellation option as easy to use as signing up in the first place. The FTC calls this opt-in, opt-out mirroring rule the “Negative Options Rule.”
The FTC reviewed more than 16,500 comments before finalizing the rules.
Judging by the outpouring of public feedback, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection Samuel Levine was right when he called burdensome cancellation tactics “a major source of consumer harm.”
Industry Objections and Lawsuits
Though most Americans would agree that cancelling not-needed services should be straightforward—and possible—the new rule still met opposition.
The NCTA, a coalition of cable and media companies including Charter Communications, Comcast, and Disney, filed a lawsuit earlier this week that calls the Negative Options Rule “onerous new regulatory obligations” that are an “abuse of discretion.”
Interestingly, the lawsuit also notes that “The Final Rule calls these ‘negative option” contracts—estimated as covering over a billion paid subscriptions in the United States.”
Despite industry objections over the potential lack of flexibility or customized offers, FTC leadership finalized the rule, though the lawsuit’s outcome could require revisions should the NCTA’s suit bring about court-order modifications.
Key Win For Consumers
E-commerce and mobile commerce have made opt-in recurring subscriptions easier for consumers in some valuable ways.
But the access and convenience of monthly box deliveries, digital services, and memberships have also come with plenty of downsides as more Americans report being hounded, misled, or forced into unwanted charges that persist indefinitely after initially signing up.
The FTC, which is comprised of five commissioners, passed the rule 3-2 and along party lines. Democratic commissioners Lina Kahn, Alvaro Bedoya, and Rebecca Slaughter, voted for the rule, and Republican commissioners Melissa Holyoak and Andrew N. Ferguson voted against it.
In the related press release, the FTC notes that “the number of complaints has been steadily increasing over the past five years and in 2024 the Commission received nearly 70 consumer complaints per day on average, up from 42 per day in 2021.”
What Happens Next
Companies now have 180 days to overhaul their cancellation flows and make sure they align with the FTC’s new standards around transparency and ease of use.
Expect an adjustment period where consumers may still hit roadblocks as organizations determine how to fit disclosure requirements, cancellation links, and other changes into existing flows.
But the rule essentially means anyone offering subscriptions or memberships will have to revisit those experiences with a focus on ethics and clarity.
Americans tired of frustrating recurring charge battles can look forward to smoother cancellation processes in 2025 and beyond thanks to this expansive new consumer protection.
Companies failing to make cancellation easy and transparent will soon face legal consequences from regulators aiming to stamp out deceitful subscription traps for good.
