New York City Revives Click-to-Cancel Rule

On July 10, 2026, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Commissioner Samuel A.A. Levine of the city’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) announced new consumer protection rules that will crack down on junk fees and subscription traps, making it easier for New Yorkers to understand what they’re paying for and to cancel services they no longer want.

These rules follow a number of similar executive orders issued by Mayor Mamdani’s office and other city rules built upon the mayor’s affordability agenda, such as a rule to ban hidden hotel fees. It also echoes the nationwide Click-to-Cancel rule that was proposed by the FTC in 2024.

What does the New York City rule do?

These rules ensure that all residents of the city, county, (but not the entire state) of New York will be able to cancel subscriptions just as easily as they can sign up for them. The finalized rules give New Yorkers a number of rights related to recurring subscriptions:

• Companies must clearly explain subscription terms.
• Companies must clearly disclose consumers’ rights when buying or canceling subscriptions.
• Companies must provide subscribers with a straightforward cancellation process in the same method as sign up.
• Companies cannot ask that customers pay to ship items they were provided for free.

The rules also require businesses to advertise the full price of goods and services up front, including all mandatory charges and fees. This is similar in many ways to the FCC’s Broadband Nutrition Labels, albeit applied to a much broader range of products than just broadband internet. In the New York rule, Businesses would be prohibited from misrepresenting the purpose, amount, or refundability of any fees. Any mandatory fees must be included in the advertised price along with an explanation of what those fees actually cover.

This means that companies that charge “service charges,” “processing fees,” or similar mandatory charges would have to list them up front, rather than as a surprise at checkout.

Businesses that violate either rule would face restitution to harmed consumers and civil penalties beginning at $525 per violation. The rules take effect on October 1, 2026, which will make New York City the first municipality in the nation to require businesses to provide simple, straightforward subscription cancellation.

What will Click-to-Cancel mean for New Yorkers?

Once the rules go into effect, New Yorkers will be able to file a complaint online (or over phone, mail, or fax) any time a business makes it difficult to cancel a subscription, covertly signs them up for auto-renewal, or otherwise obfuscates fees and contracts. The DCWP will then review the complaint and, if necessary, work with the business to resolve the issue or get restitution for the customer.

The Office of the Mayor claims that, according to Consumer Reports, hidden fees and subscription traps cost the average family of four an estimated $3,200 each year. Julie Su, Deputy Mayor for Economic Justice, highlighted both the economic impact and the time lost to these predatory business practices:

“Every dollar a family loses to a hidden fee or a subscription they couldn’t cancel is a dollar stolen from them, a dollar that could have gone toward rent, groceries, childcare, or anything else. And just as important, the hours spent trying to cancel a subscription or membership you no longer want is stolen time…”

The new rules come as part of Mayor Mamdani’s work to deal with the affordability crisis. Since his election, his office has focused on both improving life for New Yorkers and modeling effective governance for the rest of the nation.

What impact will New York’s rules have on the rest of the country?

While the New York rules will be the first of their kind in any municipality, a similar rule was proposed by the FTC in 2024. This proposed rule came under FTC Chair Lina Khan, who took an active approach to consumer protections. It also came after high-profile complaints against companies like software giant Adobe for deceptive and predatory subscription models.

Like the New York rule, the nationwide Click-to-Cancel rule would have banned companies from hiding important details in the fine print, as well as outright misinformation. It also would have required sellers to obtain explicit, informed consent from customers and to provide a simple option to cancel.

Unsurprisingly, industry groups sued to block the rule from going into effect, led by the cable lobby group NCTA, the Electronic Security Association, and the Interactive Advertising Bureau. These groups represent companies like internet providers, cable television, and security systems that could lose a lot of money if subscribers could easily cancel when they no longer want these services.

Following multiple lawsuits, the rule was ultimately vacated by the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, which found that the FTC hadn’t met the preliminary analysis requirements to implement the rule. After the reelection of President Donald Trump, Khan was replaced as FTC Chair by Andrew N. Ferguson, who had voted against the rule.

While it is unlikely that the nationwide Click-to-Cancel rule will be reintroduced while Ferguson is FTC chair, the New York rule could still impact those outside of New York. It’s a lot of work and expense for companies to create a rules-compliant subscription system for New York residents and then create a second, deceptive system for the rest of the country. As such, consumer protection laws in one state or city often get implemented nationwide. This is similar to the Brussels Effect, where consumer protection laws in the EU end up helping U.S. consumers as well.

The New York rule might also inspire similar regional rules in other states or major cities. While this might eventually breathe new life into the nationwide rule under a new FTC chair, widespread adoption could make Click-to-Cancel the de facto standard long before that occurs.

Consumers should expect more from businesses

All of us at HighSpeedInternet.com are big advocates of simple and transparent pricing for internet service. Transparency makes it easier to compare services and allows customers to find an internet plan that actually fits their budget. Confusing contracts, price hikes, and draconian termination fees used to be the norm for internet service, but the industry eventually learned that customers value transparency enough to dump a deceptive provider. Now, no-contract plans are the standard because customers expect more from their internet service.

While enshrining these consumer protections in FTC regulations would still prevent some deceptive practices among internet providers, most internet users have good options for plans with simple and transparent pricing. This also demonstrates the importance of doing a thorough comparison between providers instead of just picking the fastest speed or lowest price based on advertisements. The internet is a part of our daily lives, and internet users have a lot of economic power. Let’s make the most of it.

More resources

• FTC Announces Click-to-Cancel Rule
• Best No-Contract Internet Plans
• How To Pause Your Internet Service
• What Do Broadband Nutrition Labels Mean for Internet Users?