Stuck paying for a subscription or membership you no longer want or need? The Federal Trade Commission’s “click to cancel” rule set to take effect Tuesday may help. 

But the future of the new rule is already in doubt. Businesses don’t have to comply until May 14 and "click to cancel” faces mounting legal and political challenges.

“That's a long time for courts to rule or the FTC to decide not to enforce it or make another decision,” Teresa Murray, consumer watchdog director at Public Interest Research Group, told USA TODAY.

Announced in October, the new rule requires businesses to make it as “at least as easy” to cancel a service as it was to sign up. Also, businesses must get consent for subscriptions, auto-renewals and free trials that convert to paid memberships. 

Some 20 states and Washington have laws on automatic renewal with similar requirements.

FTC ‘click to cancel’ rules faces legal challenges

Industry and trade groups say “click to cancel” places too many burdens on businesses and they are suing to block the FTC from enforcing it. 

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce called the rule “the latest abuse of power by a Commission determined to micromanage the economy and undermine American free enterprise.”

“This rule will deter businesses from providing sensible, consumer-friendly subscriptions, leaving Americans with fewer options, higher prices, and more hoops to jump through,” the chamber said in a statement.

Will Trump administration reverse ‘click to cancel’ rule?

“Click to cancel” could soon find itself on shaky political ground, too.

The FTC’s decision in favor of the new rule was split along political lines. Part of President Joe Biden’s crackdown on “junk fees,” it passed 3-2, with the FTC's two GOP commissioners voting against it.

Under the upcoming Trump administration, the FTC is expected to “operate with a lighter touch when it comes to consumer protection issues,” according to an analysis from the Morrison Foerster law firm. 

A change in leadership at the agency could also mean big changes for “click to cancel” as the FTC chair can open and close investigations without a vote of commissioners.

Andrew Ferguson, an FTC commissioner and President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to run the agency, has opposed much of the agency’s rulemaking agenda under Chair Lina Khan. Ferguson said he voted against “click to cancel” because it came during the lame-duck period.

The rule could also be dialed back or rescinded under the normal rulemaking process. 

“While it may take some time for such actions to take place, it is also possible that the new Trump administration will not enforce the Final Rule once President Trump takes office,” the Morrison Foerster analysis said.

Consumers fed up with hard-to-cancel subscriptions

Some subscriptions can be canceled with a couple of clicks or a phone call. But, when companies make it difficult to cancel a subscription, consumer advocates say customers can end up with monthly charges long after they no longer want or need a subscription or membership.

“We know signing up for subscriptions is so easy, it is miraculous. That is why we know that the difficulty of cancellation is not an accident. It is a choice. And it's a choice that's causing real harm to consumers,” Samuel Levine, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, told USA TODAY last year.

Complaints about hard-to-quit subscriptions have soared in recent years. The FTC estimates it receives nearly 70 a day on average.

After proposing the rule last year, the FTC received thousands of comments from consumers who had trouble canceling services, from cable subscriptions to subscriptions for dietary supplements.

The FTC rule “prohibits companies from ‘misrepresenting any material fact while marketing goods or services,’ failing to disclose relevant information before getting the customer's payment information, failing to get a consumer's permission before charging them and failing to make it ‘simple’ to cancel a subscription,” PIRG’s Murray said. “How are those practices bad for business?”