Thinking of leaving the gym? A new court decision could make that tougher

The Federal Trade Commission, which passed the so-called “click-to-cancel” rule under former Democratic Chair Lina Khan during the Biden administration, failed to conduct a preliminary analysis of the costs and benefits of the rule and as a consequence, this week the U.S. appeals court blocked the ruling that would have required businesses to make it as easy for consumers to cancel subscription.

The original proposal was aiming to tackle issues with subscription plans relating from the likes of fitness club memberships through to streaming platforming subscriptions.

The feeling was that many outlets made memberships and subscriptions difficult to cancel in circumstances relating the end of free trial periods.

But the initiative was met with resistance from many by business with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce putting the wheels in motion to block the rule.

“The Chamber of Commerce sued to kill the FTC’s massively popular Click-to-Cancel Rule — and Chair Andrew Ferguson, who voted against the rule, delayed its enforcement long enough for big corporate lobbyists to win in court,” Nidhi Hegde, executive director of the American Economic Liberties Project, said in a statement. “By slow-walking a simple, massively popular protection, (the FTC) ensured that hardworking people will keep getting stuck with subscriptions they don’t want or can’t afford from cable companies, gyms, and online services.”

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