The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) had planned to begin enforcing the remaining parts of its “click-to-cancel” rule on May 14th, which demands that subscriptions be as easy to cancel as they are to initiate. However, according to TechCrunch, the agency has announced it will now delay rule enforcement until July 14th.
Known as the Negative Option Rule, a key aspect of click-to-cancel ensures that companies cannot impose more complex processes for cancellation than for sign-up. This means that if you can register online, you must also have the option to cancel in the same manner. The FTC notes that the original May 14th enforcement date had already been a postponement for these and related rules.
The agency states that it decided to further extend enforcement following “a fresh assessment of the burdens that forcing compliance by this date would impose.” The FTC’s decision to delay was unanimous with a 3-0 vote; however, as TechCrunch mentions, only three commissioners voted due to two usual commissioners being absent, as they were unlawfully dismissed by Donald Trump in March.
Perhaps on the bright side for consumers, the FTC says that starting on the new deadline, “regulated entities must be in compliance with the whole of the Rule because the Commission will begin enforcing it.” However, it doesn’t rule out changing any of the regulation’s provisions, writing that it’s “open to amending the Rule” if enforcing it “exposes any problems.”
