New York City has become the first U.S. Municipality to legally mandate that canceling a subscription must be as easy as signing up for one.
The “Click to Cancel” rule took effect Thursday, October 1, under Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration, imposing fines of up to $525 per violation on companies that fail to comply. Businesses must now provide cancellation processes that mirror their sign-up methods, clearly explain subscription terms, and describe subscribers’ rights during both purchase and cancellation. The regulations also prohibit companies from charging consumers for shipping items that were originally offered free of charge.
Mamdani, who took office as mayor earlier this year, framed the rule as a direct response to predatory business practices that drain working New Yorkers’ finances. “No one should need 45 minutes of hold music to stop paying for something they never wanted,” he said in a statement. “New Yorkers work too hard for their money to have it drained by a subscription they can’t cancel. If a company can take your money with one click, you should be able to get your money back with one click. And now, if they won’t let you cancel, the City is coming for them.”
The Department of Consumer and Worker Protection will oversee enforcement, armed with new authority to hold businesses accountable and require refunds where appropriate. DCWP Commissioner Samuel A.A. Levine issued a blunt warning to companies relying on complicated cancellation procedures to retain customers. “To any company taking money from working people through subscription tricks and traps: you’re on notice,” he said. Levine directed struggling consumers to a new city complaint portal, adding: “We have your back.”
Deputy Mayor for Economic Justice Julie joined the announcement, emphasizing the administration’s broader affordability agenda. “This administration is putting its enforcement power behind affordability for working New Yorkers,” she said in a statement. “The rule gives DCWP the authority to hold businesses accountable, and the portal gives New Yorkers a straightforward way to ask for help.”
The technological infrastructure supporting the new rule was developed internally by the city’s Office of Technology and Innovation. CTO and OTI Commissioner Lisa Gelobter highlighted the rapid, user-centered development process. “Government technology should work for the people, not against them,” she said. “Building this tool in house let us move quickly and design it around what New Yorkers told us they needed. We are proud to partner with DCWP to defend consumers in all five boroughs.”
The rule arrives as subscription-based business models have proliferated across industries from streaming services to fitness memberships, with consumer complaints about difficult cancellations mounting nationwide. While the Federal Trade Commission proposed similar nationwide “click to cancel” regulations in 2023, those rules have faced delays and legal challenges, leaving a regulatory gap that New York City has now filled with municipal authority.
Companies operating in the city must now audit their cancellation flows to ensure they match the simplicity of their sign-up processes, or risk the $525-per-violation penalties that could accumulate quickly across large customer bases.