NYC Unveils "Click to Cancel" Rule to Curb Subscription Traps and Junk Fees

NYC Unveils "Click to Cancel" Rule to Curb Subscription Traps and Junk Fees

Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced Friday a first-in-the-nation municipal rule requiring businesses to make cancelling a subscription as easy as signing up for one. The "Click to Cancel" rule was unveiled alongside New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) Commissioner Samuel A.A. Levine and other officials.

Under the rule, companies will be barred from making customers cancel gym memberships, streaming services, or other subscriptions through in-person visits or phone calls during limited business hours if the sign-up process was completed online or with a single click. The rule also targets "free trials" that convert into recurring charges without clear notice, and cancellation processes that bury the option behind multiple menus.

Businesses that violate the rule face civil penalties starting at $525 per violation, along with potential restitution to affected consumers. According to city officials, the rule is projected to save New Yorkers between $21.5 million and $162.5 million a year, based on estimates from the Roosevelt Institute. The rule takes effect October 1, 2026.

"If you can sign up with one click, you can cancel with one click," Mamdani said at the announcement. Deputy Mayor for Economic Justice Julie Su said hidden fees and hard-to-cancel subscriptions amount to money and time "stolen" from working families.

The rule was issued under Executive Order 10 and follows a public comment period after DCWP first proposed it in April. It was announced alongside a separate proposed rule that would require businesses to disclose full, all-in pricing upfront, banning hidden "service" and "processing" fees at checkout.

The click-to-cancel measure is part of a broader consumer-protection push by the Mamdani administration, which has also pursued rules against hidden hotel fees and secured an estimated $10 million in settlements for workers in wage-related cases. Business groups are reportedly considering legal challenges to the new rules, and questions remain about how the city will enforce them and what the effort will cost.

Consumers with complaints once the rule takes effect can file them through 311 or the city's consumer affairs website.