FTC's click-to-cancel rule makes it easy to cancel subscriptions without jumping through hoops

We've likely all been in the situation where we've subscribed to a service, and then had difficulty canceling that subscription - it's a frustrating place to be, but one which might be a thing of the past thanks to new regulations in the US.

The FTC has just announced a finalized 'click-to-cancel' rule which requires that businesses which get consumers to sign up to a subscription should ensure that it's very easy to subsequently cancel that service.

As mentioned at the outset, we've likely all been there where we come to cancel a service and find ourselves scratching our heads as to how this is achieved. Often, the method of canceling can be hidden deep within the service's dashboard, behind multiple nested menus perhaps.

And even when you find the cancel option, it may not work for you (we've had this happen before, where the web page mysteriously breaks during the cancelation - it's difficult to level accusations, of course, but somewhat suspicious when it happens again).

In some cases, there might be no online or account-based option to cancel, and you're forced to contact customer support via email or phone - possibly not hearing back, or getting useless boilerplate replies, or reps bending your ear to stay subscribed.

Lina M. Khan, chair of the FTC, noted that:

"Too often, businesses make people jump through endless hoops just to cancel a subscription. The FTC's rule will end these tricks and traps, saving Americans time and money. Nobody should be stuck paying for a service they no longer want."

The exact rules being brought in - which take effect in six months - regarding 'negative option' billing (where you need to actively 'say no' and cancel the subscription to halt it) are as follows. Sellers are prohibited 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
• Failing to provide a simple mechanism to cancel the negative option feature and immediately halt charges.

The last one is the 'click to cancel' bit, insisting that there must be a 'simple mechanism' whereby a single click ends the subscription, which by definition should be in an easily accessible place.

This is a useful move to strengthen the position of the average consumer when it comes to billing for online services, albeit one which arguably should've been enacted before now.