The NYC click-to-cancel rule that finally ends subscription traps

The charge keeps coming every month for a streaming service you stopped watching long ago. New York City's answer to that specific annoyance arrived at the start of the month: the NYC click-to-cancel rule, which forces companies to let customers leave as easily as they joined.

What companies have to do now

The NYC click-to-cancel rule is enforced by the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, the city agency that polices deceptive business practices. Businesses that break it face civil penalties starting at $525 per violation and climbing to $3,500 for repeat offenses, and they can also be ordered to refund customers, according to the mayor's office.

Under the NYC click-to-cancel rule, companies have to state subscription terms in plain language before taking payment, disclose automatic renewal up front, and notify customers when terms change. The exit has to match the entrance: sign up online and the company has to provide an online way to cancel. A business also cannot ship products nobody ordered and then demand payment or return shipping.

Why the rule exists

Subscription traps have been a quiet drain on household budgets for years. Gyms, meal kits, apps, and news sites learned that a signup flow of three taps paired with a cancellation process built around phone calls and retention agents keeps revenue flowing. Regulators noticed. The Federal Trade Commission wrote a national click-to-cancel rule during the Biden administration, but the Eighth Circuit vacated it in July 2025 before it took effect. USA Today reported that New York State already had its own autorenewal statute, and the NYC click-to-cancel rule adds local enforcement with steeper penalties.

The NYC click-to-cancel rule started with Executive Order 10, which Mayor Zohran Mamdani signed on Jan. 5, directing the consumer protection agency to write rules against deceptive subscription practices. The Roosevelt Institute estimates the policy could save city residents between $21.5 million and $162.5 million a year.

The same announcement included a companion rule against junk fees, requiring businesses to advertise the full price of goods and services up front, including every mandatory charge. City officials estimated that hidden fees cost an average family of four about $3,200 a year, according to Reuters. Together, the two rules take aim at the drips and drops that rarely arrive as one shocking bill.

How to use the rule the next time a company stalls

Documentation is the whole game. Screenshot the signup page, the terms shown at checkout, and any cancellation screen that leads nowhere. Cancel through the same channel you used to subscribe, because the rule requires that path to exist. If the company forces a phone call anyway, stalls the request, or keeps charging, write down dates and names and keep the confirmation emails. A paper trail turns a frustrating anecdote into an enforceable record.

The city gave residents a place to take that record. Under the NYC click-to-cancel rule, the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection opened an online complaint portal where New Yorkers can report businesses that hide terms, delay cancellation, bill without clear auto-renewal notice, or change terms quietly. Filing takes a few minutes and puts the complaint in front of the agency that can fine the business.

The rule covers New York City, but the tactics travel well. Wherever you live, the same habits help: review bank and card statements once a month for charges you forgot about, search your inbox for the word "renewal" before big billing dates, and cancel free trials the day you start them instead of trusting a reminder. Many states have their own autorenewal laws, so a quick search for your state's rules tells you what backup exists now that the federal rule is gone.

Mamdani framed the NYC click-to-cancel rule in plain terms when it was announced: "No one should need 45 minutes of hold music to stop paying for something they never wanted." His point was that signing up and canceling should demand the same effort from the customer. In New York City, that standard now has the force of law.