FTC pushes back timeline for ‘Click to Cancel’ Rule, raising compliance questions

The Federal Trade Commission was set to begin enforcement of the “click to cancel” rule on May 14, but a new announcement from the agency pushed that date to July 14. As is the case with many of the regulatory decisions by the Trump administration, it’s unclear whether the agency intends to enforce the rule at all.

In its statement published to the FTC website Monday, the commission says it is pushing back the enforcement of the Negative Option Rule—which includes the Click to Cancel, making cancellations of subscriptions easier and preventing automatic renewal of services without the customer’s consent—for another 60 days. The FTC says it conducted a “fresh assessment of the burdens that forcing compliance by this date would impose,” leading to the delay. 

“The prior administration did not explain why this specific deferment period was chosen,” the FTC said in its release. “The Commission has determined that the original deferral period insufficiently accounted for the complexity of compliance.”

Spokespeople for the FTC did not immediately respond to a request for further comment.