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Here’s why the government wants to make it simpler for you click the 'unsubscribe' button

By Daniel Miller
Published  August 12, 2024 9:46am CDT
Consumer
FOX TV Digital Team
article

FILE-A woman works on a laptop while sitting at a table. (Photo by Joseph Branston/Future via Getty Images)

The Brief 

    • The federal government is launching a new initiative called "Time Is Money," which includes new rules to make it easier for consumers to unsubscribe from unwanted memberships and occasional payment services.
    • This new plan affects multiple industries, including healthcare and fitness memberships and media subscriptions.
    • Over the past few months, government agencies have launched plans to improve the consumer experience by cracking down on companies duping consumers and charging unnecessary fees.

Several federal agencies want to make it simpler for consumers to click the unsubscribe button for undesirable memberships and occasional payment services. 

The government is launching an initiative called "Time Is Money," and has a rollout of new rules and the promise of more for industries, including healthcare and fitness memberships and media subscriptions.

These efforts starting Monday include a Federal Communications Commission examination into whether to enforce requirements on communications organizations that would make it simple to cancel a subscription or service, the Associated Press noted. 

RELATED: Prepare to pay for your bank accounts, Chase warns customers

In March 2023, the Federal Trade Commission started a "click to cancel" rule that called for companies to allow consumers to stop subscriptions as easily as they signed up for them. 

Over the past few months, the federal government kicked off some initiatives to improve the customer experience by cracking down on companies duping consumers and charging unnecessary fees. 

The FTC announced a proposed rule in October 2023 to ban hidden and fake junk fees, which can hide the cost of concert tickets, hotel rooms and energy bills. 

RELATED: Scammers posing as airline customer service agents, FTC warns

According to the AP, the Department of Transportation finalized rules in April that would require airlines to issue cash refunds for delayed flights, while better revealing fees for baggage or reservation cancellations. 

The agency also took actions against companies accused of deceiving customers. 

Meanwhile, the Justice Department filed a lawsuit in June against software maker Adobe and two of its executives, Maninder Sawhney and David Wadhwani, for allegedly nudging customers to the organization’s "annual paid monthly" subscription without properly revealing that canceling the plan in the first year could cost hundreds of dollars, per the AP. 

The Source

Information for this story was provided by the Associated Press.  This story was reported from Washington, D.C.