‘Click-to-Cancel’ rule for subscriptions blocked by appeals court

(CNN) – So far, click-to-cancel for subscriptions is a no-go.

A U.S. appeals court has blocked a rule that would have required businesses to make it as easy for consumers to cancel subscriptions and memberships as it is to sign up.

The rule would have applied to everything from gym memberships to digital streaming and E-commerce to cable TV service accounts.

The so-called “Click-to-Cancel” rule was passed by the Federal Trade Commission during the Biden Administration.

However, the appeals court said the FTC failed to conduct a preliminary analysis of the costs and benefits of the rule, which was set to take effect next week.

The proposed rule was aimed at addressing common issues with subscription plans.

Those include sellers making it difficult to cancel and billing customers even when they didn’t explicitly agree to pay, such as the end of a free trial.

The proposed rule was met with pushback by business groups, such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which sued to block the rule from going into effect.

The FTC, under President Donald Trump, delayed the rule’s implementation.

The advocacy group American Economic Liberties Project blames that action for this outcome and is calling for the FTC to reissue the rule.