Music on demand. Television programmes. Mobile phone services. Professional sports broadcasts. Audiobooks. News. Video games. Computer software.
More and more products and services are sold via subscription online, offering greater convenience and personalisation, but also posing new problems for consumers. Companies have been accused of signing people up without their consent, renewing subscriptions without notice and imposing a range of obstacles for those who want to unsubscribe.
However, Californians will soon receive more protections against these types of abuses, including the right to cancel their subscription with a single click. On Tuesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law Assembly Bill 2863, introduced by Assemblywoman Pilar Schiavo (D-Chatsworth), which imposes a number of safeguards on subscription contracts signed or renewed after July 1, 2025.
“Consumers are fed up with rampant automatic subscriptions, where it is nearly impossible to terminate something the consumer no longer wants,” said Robert Herrell, executive director of the Consumer Federation of California, which sponsored the bill. “It should be as easy to cancel a subscription as it is to sign up for one.”
The measure applies to subscriptions or purchase contracts that automatically renew, continue until terminated, or automatically convert from free to paid unless canceled. Before putting a consumer’s bill on autopilot, the law says, companies must obtain “express affirmative consent.” In other words, no one should be surprised to discover they’ve been enrolled.
It also requires businesses to offer customers a simple way to cancel — as easy and convenient, in fact, as the mechanism for registering. In addition to a toll-free phone line, businesses will have to offer an online option that allows customers to cancel by clicking a link or sending a pre-formatted email.
In addition, the law requires companies to send subscribers an annual reminder about the cost of the subscription and how to cancel it, as well as advance notice of price changes.
“California now has the most comprehensive law in the country” on subscription services, Herrell said in a statement Tuesday. “From gym memberships to software subscriptions to wine clubs, consumers should be in control of their subscriptions and not have to put up with endless delaying tactics to take their money.”
While California lawmakers have been crafting their own consumer protections, the Federal Trade Commission has been cracking down nationwide on companies accused of signing people up for subscriptions without their consent and making it difficult for them to cancel. Since March 2023, it has also been working on a “Click to Cancel” rule that covers the same ground as AB 2863.
In an email, Herrell said it was important for the state to move forward, regardless of the FTC's actions. In recent years, opponents of the federal rules have filed lawsuits with conservative federal legal experts seeking to have the rules thrown out, he said. The state's move “ensures that if (or rather when) that happens, California consumers have strong 'click to cancel' or 'call to cancel' protections,” Herrell said.
And even if the agency adopts a rule that survives the challenges, it will set a floor for state protections, not a ceiling, he said, adding that AB 2863 is at least as strong as what the FTC has proposed in its “Click to Cancel” proceeding.
