The majority of provisions for “Click-to-Cancel,” a new rule that has been designed to make it as easy for consumers to end recurring subscriptions and memberships as it was to sign up for them, will be going into effect 180 days after they are published in the Federal Register, the FTC has announced. The independent U.S. agency shared the news in a press release yesterday, explaining that sellers will no longer be able to set up “tricks and traps” and will have to follow certain rules going forward, such as providing important information before obtaining consumers’ billing information and charging them. A fact that sheet that outlines some of the changes that “Click-to-Cancel” brings, including what problems it’s set to address, can be found below.
The final rule will provide a consistent legal framework by prohibiting sellers from: misrepresenting any material fact made while marketing goods or services with a negative option feature; failing to clearly and conspicuously disclose material terms prior to obtaining a consumer’s billing information in connection with a negative option feature; failing to obtain a consumer’s express informed consent to the negative option feature before charging the consumer; and failing to provide a simple mechanism to cancel the negative option feature and immediately halt charges.