Click to cancel rules have returned in New York City, a year after a federal appeals court effectively struck down a nationwide regulation that would have required companies to make it easier for customers to exit subscriptions. The city has revived the policy for its own residents.
Announced last week by Mayor Zohran Mamdani, alongside the city’s top technology officer and consumer protection commissioner, the rule states that companies must make it as easy to cancel a subscription as it is to sign up. It applies to gym memberships, mobile phone contracts and apps that charge a monthly fee. The measure is similar in principle to the click-to-cancel rules proposed in 2024 under the Biden administration, which were never fully rolled out. New York City’s version was set by executive order in January and took effect on 1 October.
“No one should need 45 minutes of hold music to stop paying for something they never wanted,” Mamdani said. “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.”
How New Yorkers Can File a Complaint
A central part of the enforcement effort is a dedicated web page where residents can file a complaint. The site allows visitors to search for or add a business, even one not based in New York City, and select from a list of issues, such as a delayed cancellation or not being informed of auto-renewal. A text box and an option to upload documents, including screenshots, let users explain what happened. Those filing can also choose a preferred outcome, such as a refund and cancellation of the subscription.
According to Samuel Levine, commissioner of New York City’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, full-time staff will handle the submitted complaints rather than automated systems. Businesses named in a complaint will be investigated, and if found to be in violation of the city rules they could be fined up to roughly £415 per violation.
Rules Elsewhere in the Country
Across the rest of the United States, a CNET survey found that consumers spend on average more than £1,000 a year on subscriptions, some of them unused or taken out by accident. Emily Peterson-Cassin, director of competition and market fairness at the Consumer Federation of America, said the city’s measure demonstrates how local governments can create new ways to protect consumers, describing it as a roadmap for other regulators.
Other jurisdictions have taken their own approach. California, for example, has a rule requiring businesses to obtain a customer’s explicit consent before charging them for a subscription renewal. That law was strengthened last year to include protections such as offering cancellation through the same method used to sign up.
