Requires businesses that make an automatic renewal offer or continuous service offer to provide a link on any public website it maintains for cancellation of such service.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A6823
SPONSOR: Woerner TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the general business law, in relation to cancellation of
continuous services
PURPOSE:
To allow consumers to cancel automatic renewal offers or continuous
services offers on-line.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1: amends section 527-a (2) of the general business law to allow
consumers to cancel automatic renewal or continuous service offers
on-line instead of by telephone.
Section 2: amends section 527-a (3) of the general business law to make
any such cancellation conditional on the return of property to the busi-
ness, if any, unless the business itself must remove its property from
the consumer's home or other location.
Section 3 establishes the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
Many cable, internet and satellite television providers will not cancel
a customer's service unless the customer calls to request cancellation.
People often must wait on hold for long peridds, endure repeated sales
pitches by company representatives or are told that they cannot cancel
until they return equipment to the company. Older customers who are
moving to assisted living or nursing home care may try to cancel their
service through a relative or caretaker but may be forced to call the
company themselves to cancel since they are the only ones with the
"authority" to cancel. People with cochlear implants may have a hard
time understanding company representatives since the implants do not
work as well on phones as they do in personal conversations. In some
cases, people give up and are simply not able to cancel their services
at all.
This bill would require any company that maintains a public website to
provide an on-line cancellation link. If the consumer has equipment to
return to the company, the cancellation can be conditioned upon the
return and finalized as soon as the customer returns the equipment. If
the equipment cannot be returned by the customer (for example, a satel-
lite dish installed on a roof), the cancellation is immediate and the
company can pick up its property at a later date.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2024: A8453 - Referred to Consumer Affairs and Protection.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect ninety days after it shall have become a law.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6823
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
March 14, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. WOERNER, SHIMSKY -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Consumer Affairs and Protection
AN ACT to amend the general business law, in relation to cancellation of
continuous services
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 2 of section 527-a of the general business law,
2 as added by chapter 267 of the laws of 2020, is amended to read as
3 follows:
4 2. A business that makes an automatic renewal offer or continuous
5 service offer shall provide a toll-free telephone number, electronic
6 mail address, a postal address only when the seller directly bills the
7 consumer, [or another] a link on any public website it maintains, and
8 any other cost-effective, timely, and easy-to-use [mechanism] mechanisms
9 for cancellation that shall be described in the acknowledgment specified
10 in paragraph c of subdivision one of this section.
11 § 2. Paragraph a of subdivision 3 of section 527-a of the general
12 business law, as amended by chapter 728 of the laws of 2023, is amended
13 to read as follows:
14 a. In addition to the requirements of subdivision two of this section,
15 a consumer who accepts an automatic renewal or continuous service offer
16 [online] shall be allowed to terminate the automatic renewal or contin-
17 uous service exclusively online, which may include a termination email
18 formatted and provided by the business that a consumer can send to the
19 business without additional information. If the consumer must return
20 property or equipment to the business, the cancellation may be made
21 conditional on the return of such property or equipment and the business
22 shall immediately give, mail or email written instructions to the
23 consumer on where and how to return such property or equipment without
24 need for any additional appointments or other requirements. If the busi-
25 ness must remove its property or equipment from the consumer's home or
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10266-01-5
A. 6823 2
1 other location, the cancellation shall take effect immediately and the
2 business shall retrieve such property or equipment at its convenience
3 within thirty days of the cancellation by the consumer. Once such prop-
4 erty or equipment, if any, is returned to the business, the business
5 shall immediately issue a receipt to the consumer for the return of such
6 property or equipment.
7 § 3. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
8 have become a law.
