Have you ever felt stuck paying for a subscription or membership that you don’t want anymore, but found it impossible to cancel? Thankfully, ending your gym or streaming service subscription is about to become a lot simpler.

This past Wednesday, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) introduced a new “click to cancel” rule. This regulation mandates that companies make canceling a service just as straightforward as signing up for one.

If you registered online, you can click to cancel. If you registered in person, you can cancel via the internet or a phone call.

“Often, companies require customers to navigate through numerous obstacles just to cancel a subscription,” stated Commission Chair Lina Khan. “No one should have to keep paying for a service they no longer wish to use.”

The new regulations, which will come into effect in a few months, require businesses to obtain consent for subscriptions, automatic renewals, and free trials that turn into paid memberships. Cancelling these services must be “at least as easy” as signing up, without any deceptive practices, according to the FTC.

This rule falls under President Joe Biden’s initiative to eliminate “junk fees.”

In September, Vice President Kamala Harris discussed the proposed “click to cancel” rule while on the campaign trail.

The FTC voted 3-2 in favor of the new rule, with the two Republican commissioners opposing it.

While some subscriptions are easily canceled with just a few clicks or a quick phone call, when companies complicate the cancellation process, customers can end up facing charges long past when they actually wanted to end the service.

The headache of unwanted subscriptions has led to a surge in apps designed to assist users in locating and canceling such subscriptions.

“We recognize that signing up for subscriptions is effortless; conversely, cancelling them is intentionally complicated. This is a deliberate decision that inflicts genuine harm upon consumers,” stated Samuel Levine, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, during an interview with YSL News last year.

In recent years, complaints about the difficulty of canceling subscriptions have skyrocketed. The FTC reports that it receives nearly 70 complaints daily.

After proposing the rule last year, the FTC amassed thousands of consumer comments highlighting difficulties in canceling various services, from cable subscriptions to dietary supplement memberships.

These comments showcased that “consumers were genuinely struggling to cancel and escape from long-term commitments while still being charged,” explained Laura Brett, vice president of BBB National Programs’ National Advertising Division, which oversees self-regulation in advertising.

Trade associations representing news publishers, retailers, and other businesses argue that requiring a multi-step cancellation process is essential for protecting consumers or allows them to benefit from better deals. They assert that the new FTC rule imposes unnecessary burdens on businesses.

Consumer advocates disagree with this perspective.

Erin Witte, director of consumer protection for the Consumer Federation of America, believes the rule benefits both consumers and businesses.

“It ensures that businesses are providing services to consumers who actually want to continue them, rather than customers who give up after struggling to cancel or forgetting about their subscriptions,” she said. “It effectively aligns everyone’s interests.”

Teresa Murray, the consumer watchdog director at Public Interest Research Group, highlighted the dubious strategies often used by companies, such as “seemingly endless phone trees consumers sometimes face, or websites that claim to allow cancellation but instead lead to a maze of unhelpful links.”

Nevertheless, Murray believes more action is essential to safeguard consumers.

PIRG is advocating for the FTC to mandate that businesses send reminders before automatically renewing subscriptions or memberships and to ban aggressive tactics that discourage customers from terminating services.

Recurring charges from unwanted free trials, auto-renewals, and monthly subscriptions can burden budgets that are already strained by inflation and increased costs.

New findings from economists at Stanford University and Texas A&M indicate that subscription cancellation rates significantly increase when customers are asked to make a renewal choice.

According to Stanford economics professor Neale Mahoney, individuals are four times more likely to terminate a subscription when they are required to make an “active decision,” such as during a credit card renewal. This information was shared with YSL News last year.

“Many people might forget they have subscribed to a service, and reminders from companies can effectively help to confirm that they still wish to receive these services, rather than just catering to those who may have overlooked their subscription,” commented Witte. “We hope the FTC will consider this in future rulemaking or updates to existing regulations.”