NYC businesses face fines up to $3,500 for making subscriptions hard to cancel
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Signed up online? A company can't make you call to quit anymore, at least not if you live in New York City.
Since October 1, businesses that sell automatically renewing subscriptions to people in New York City have to let them cancel the same way they signed up. If you joined online, a company can't make you call or come in to quit. The city says it's the first in the country to adopt its own "click to cancel" rule.
"No one should need 45 minutes of hold music to stop paying for something they never wanted," Mayor Zohran Mamdani said, according to NY1.
Under the rule, companies have to clearly explain a subscription's terms and tell customers their rights when they sign up and when they cancel, according to the city's Department of Consumer and Worker Protection. They also can't make you pay to ship back something they sent you for free. Products sent without your consent count as gifts, according to a summary of the rule by the law firm Davis+Gilbert.
The rule reaches places that sign people up in person, too. Gyms, fitness studios, internet and phone providers, and retail membership programs now have to offer those customers a way to cancel online, the firm wrote. The city declined to exempt wireless carriers. Businesses can still pitch a discount when you try to leave, but the offer can't block or drag out the cancellation.
Fines run $525 for a first violation, $1,050 for a second, and $3,500 for a third or more, and each deceptive statement or omission can count separately. A business that breaks the rule can also be ordered to refund whatever it charged you after your first attempt to cancel. That makes it worth saving screenshots, confirmation emails, and chat transcripts from the moment you first try.
If a company won't let you go, you can file a complaint through the city's click-to-cancel page, by mail to the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection at 42 Broadway, New York, NY 10004, or by fax at (212) 487-4482. You'll get a complaint number to track it. The agency may assign a mediator who sends your complaint to the business and tries to work out a settlement with both sides.
The city lists the kinds of problems it wants to hear about: you weren't clearly told the terms, canceling was hard or delayed, you were sent products you didn't ask for and expected to pay for or return them, or you weren't told about changes to the terms or about the automatic renewal.
New York State already requires cancellation to be as easy as signing up. The city rule gives local regulators their own power to enforce it, CNBC reported. The consumer agency received more than 100 complaints about cancellation trouble in 2025 and adopted the final rule in July. The city estimates it will save New Yorkers between $21.5 million and $162.5 million a year.
A national version fell apart. The Federal Trade Commission finalized a click-to-cancel rule in October 2024, and a federal appeals court threw it out about a week before it was set to take effect in July 2025. In March, the FTC asked for public comment on whether to revive parts of it. More than half of states have their own laws on automatic renewals, Gonzalo Mon, a partner at the law firm Kelley Drye & Warren, told CNBC.
The money adds up. Americans spend an average of $1,080 a year on subscriptions, including $205 on ones they no longer use, according to a 2025 CNET survey of 2,440 adults conducted by YouGov. The FTC got nearly 70 complaints a day about hard-to-cancel subscriptions in 2024, up from 42 a day in 2021.
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Frequently asked
What is New York City's click-to-cancel rule?
A city rule, in effect since October 1, 2026, that requires businesses selling automatically renewing subscriptions to let New York City customers cancel the same way they signed up. If you joined online, a company can't force you to call or visit in person.
How do I file a click-to-cancel complaint in New York City?
Use the complaint portal at nyc.gov/click-to-cancel, mail a complaint form to the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection at 42 Broadway, New York, NY 10004, or fax it to (212) 487-4482. You'll get a complaint number to track it.
What are the penalties for breaking NYC's click-to-cancel rule?
$525 for a first violation, $1,050 for a second, and $3,500 for a third or more, with each deceptive statement or omission able to count separately. Businesses can also be ordered to refund charges made after the customer's first attempt to cancel.