“If a company can take your money with one click, you should be able to get your money back with one click,” said Mayor Zohran Mamdani in a news release Thursday.<\/p>\n
Read more CNBC personal finance coverage<\/p>\n
New York is the first municipality to adopt a click-to-cancel rule, according to city officials. It joins a growing number of states that have enacted or strengthened laws governing automatic subscription renewals and cancellations as the possibility of a nationwide standard remains unsettled.<\/p>\n
“Automatic renewals have been a pain point for consumers<\/a>, and this is a popular topic with regulators, especially now given the increased focus on affordability, so I expect we’ll continue to see more of these laws on the state level,” said Gonzalo Mon, a partner with the law firm of Kelley Drye & Warren in Washington.<\/p>\n Complaints about ‘negative option’ subscriptions grow<\/p>\n “Negative option” subscription contracts \u2014 those that automatically renew unless consumers cancel them \u2014 have generated a growing number of complaints as their use has increased, according to experts. While these subscriptions are easy to sign up for, they can be difficult to cancel.<\/p>\n Each year, U.S. adults spend an average of $1,080 on subscriptions, according to a survey by CNET<\/a>, a media website focused on consumer technology. By generation, millennials spend the most annually, at an average of $1,215. The survey was conducted online in April 2025 by YouGov and involved 2,440 adults. <\/p>\n The survey found that consumers spend an average of $205 annually on subscriptions they no longer use.\u00a0<\/p>\n In 2024, the FTC received an average of nearly 70 consumer complaints per day about hard-to-cancel subscriptions, up from 42 complaints per day in 2021, according to the agency<\/a>.<\/p>\n Artificial intelligence may also be giving consumers a new way to deal with unwanted subscriptions. For example, Meta<\/a>‘s new AI agent, Muse<\/a>, says it can cancel subscriptions on a user’s behalf.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, more than half of states have rules that govern automatic renewals, Mon said.<\/p>\n “Although there are some variations, the laws generally address similar themes,” he said.<\/p>\n The laws typically require up-front disclosure of key terms, consumer consent and confirmation, and an easy way to cancel, Mon said. Some also require renewal reminders.<\/p>\n What’s going on at the federal level<\/p>\n The Federal Trade Commission finalized a national click-to-cancel rule in October 2024 under the Biden administration. It was quickly challenged in court by a range of business and trade groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Federation of Independent Businesses.<\/p>\n About a week ahead of the rule taking effect in mid-July 2025, the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals vacated it on procedural grounds.<\/p>\n However, the FTC may make another attempt at a federal rule. In a March 13 notice<\/a> this year, the agency sought public input on whether to update its decades-old Negative Options Rule, including whether to adopt provisions of the vacated click-to-cancel rule. Comments were due April 13.<\/p>\n Given the notice, “it’s likely that the FTC will move forward, but we don’t know how or when,” Mon said.<\/p>\n It’s likely that the FTC will move forward, but we don’t know how or when.<\/p>\n Gonzalo Mon<\/p>\n Partner with Kelley Drye & Warren<\/p>\n In the meantime, the FTC has continued to pursue companies over their subscription practices using existing federal consumer-protection laws.\u00a0<\/p>\n For example, the agency announced a $35 million settlement<\/a> in May with Shutterstock over allegations of unfair and deceptive practices that included making subscriptions difficult to cancel.<\/p>\n![\"More](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/108338191-17846712411784671238-47308092925-1080pnbcnews.jpg\")
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