NYC is now the first city in America that bans sketchy subscriptions

A new consumer portal promises not to send complaints into a “chatbot doom loop.”

It’s the first municipality to see the rule take effect, after an appeals court struck down a federal version for procedural issues. The city expects it to save New Yorkers anywhere from $21.5 million to $162.5 million annually. And to NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) Commissioner Samuel Levine, it’s an example of how state and local governments can hold companies accountable when federal efforts fail. “No one should need 45 minutes of hold music to stop paying for something they never wanted,” NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani said in a statement. “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.”

Levine was the Federal Trade Commission consumer protection chief under Lina Khan, and he tried to usher in the click-to-cancel rule at a national level. He says the experience of implementing the rule in NYC has been “night and day.”

“We proposed this rule this year. We finalized it this year. It’s taking effect this year. This is the speed of government as it should be,” Levine tells The Verge in an exclusive interview. While Levine says he’s proud of his work on the FTC rule and sees it as a “model” for other state and local governments, “at the end of the day, it took more than four years. And then after all of that, it never actually gave Americans the relief they needed.” While the FTC under current Chair Andrew Ferguson has taken an initial step toward potentially reestablishing a similar rule, Levine is betting that more municipalities will do so first. While that leaves fewer Americans protected, it still creates a deterrent for businesses to engage in deceptive subscription practices.

“This is the speed of government as it should be”

In New York, consumers can use a new portal to file complaints if they believe a business gave them unclear subscription terms, delayed cancellation, or failed to inform them the subscription would auto-renew. After filing a complaint, DCWP will review it and could reach out for more information and try to get consumers’ money back and help them cancel relevant subscriptions. If the agency sees a pattern of noncompliance at a certain business, it could prompt further investigation and legal action. Under the rule, businesses could face fines starting at $525 per violation.