Mayor Mamdani, Commissioner Levine Announce First-In-The-Nation Municipal “Click to Cancel” Rule to End Subscription Traps

   

Following Executive Order 10, DCWP’s Proposal Ensures New Yorkers Can Easily Cancel Subscriptions and Protects Against Deceptive Practices  

Today Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani and New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) Commissioner Samuel A.A. Levine announced a proposed rule to dramatically strengthen New Yorkers’ “Click to Cancel” consumer rights, cracking down on subscription traps and ensuring consumers can easily cancel automatic renewals and continuous service offers.

Following the proposed rule’s publication on April 8, 2026, and opens a 30-day public comment period. If adopted, New York City would become the first municipality in the nation to enforce this level of consumer protection. Executive Order 10, “Fighting Subscription Tricks and Traps,” directs DCWP to take on deceptive subscription practices. 

“Subscription traps are just another way that big corporations extract hard-earned money from working people. In our city, we’re drawing a clear line: if you can sign up with a click, you must be able to cancel with one. I commend Commissioner Levine for helping us make New York City a national leader in protecting consumers from these abusive practices,” said Mayor Mamdani.

“If it's easy to sign up for something, it should be just as easy to cancel,” said DCWP Commissioner Samuel A.A. Levine. “Following Mayor Mamdani’s Executive Order 10, this proposed rule sends a warning to gyms, apps and other businesses citywide that our agency will not tolerate tricks and traps that rip off New Yorkers.”

Proposed “Click-To-Cancel" Rule

The proposed rule would give DCWP citywide enforcement authority to ensure consumers can easily cancel subscriptions. Businesses that violate the rule would be liable for restitution to harmed consumers and civil penalties, with fines starting at $525.

The rule would require clear disclosures and affirm consumers’ rights when purchasing, enrolling in or canceling subscriptions for services or goods. It applies to any subscription that qualifies as an automatic renewal or continuous service offer. Too often, bad actors force consumers through confusing, time-consuming hurdles to cancel unwanted services — from “free trials” that quietly convert into costly charges to cancellation processes buried in endless steps or unclear instructions. This rule targets those practices directly, requiring straightforward, transparent cancellation mechanisms.

Public Comment Process

DCWP published the proposed rule by in the City Record on April 8, 2026. Under the City Administrative Procedures Act (CAPA), New Yorkers will have 30 days to submit comments, including at a public hearing. After the comment period, DCWP will review feedback before finalizing the rule.

This proposal builds on the agency’s ongoing efforts to address hard-to-cancel memberships, including a PSA video and warning notices issued to hundreds of gyms and health clubs across the city.