The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has adopted “click-to-cancel” rules designed to make it easier for people to terminate their subscriptions.
It will force companies to make subscribing and unsubscribing equally easy.
Businesses including retailers and gyms must also obtain customer consent before renewing or converting a free trial into a paid membership.
The new rules will take effect in about six months.
“Businesses often make people go to great lengths to cancel their subscriptions,” said FTC Chairman Lina Khan.
“The FTC’s rules will end these shenanigans and traps, saving Americans time and money. No one should have to pay for services they no longer want.”
Under the new rules, businesses will be banned from forcing customers to cancel subscriptions that were originally signed up using an app or website through chatbots or agents.
For memberships where customers sign up in person, businesses must provide the option to terminate the membership by phone or online.
last year, Federal Trade Commission takes legal action against tech giant Amazon over related issues.
The lawsuit accuses the company of tricking customers into signing up for automatically renewing Prime subscriptions and making it difficult for people to cancel.
It also said Amazon’s website design prompts customers to agree to sign up for Prime and automatically renew their subscription when they make a purchase.
Amazon rejected the claim.
