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This article is part of ‘Guidelines on the protection of the online consumer’. View full guideline

Rules for cancelling contracts online

For consumers, it is often very easy to take out a fixed-term subscription, membership or any other contract online. Conversely however, is it just as easy to cancel such contracts? If you make it harder for consumers to cancel their contracts, consumers might be stuck with contracts they actually do not want (or not anymore). This is not allowed.

It is important that consumers are able to cancel their subscriptions in an easy and clear manner. That is why there are rules in place if you offer subscriptions, memberships or similar products. These rules ensure that consumers are able to make informed choices. An informed choice is a choice that has been made in a fair manner, with correct information, and without any pressure.

If you make it hard for consumers to cancel their contracts, it might constitute an unfair commercial practice. Unfair commercial practices are prohibited. Read more about the rules on subscriptions, memberships, and supply contracts (in Dutch).

What is required and what is not allowed?

  • Inform consumers clearly about how and under what conditions they are able to cancel the agreement. Do so already before they sign the contract. Make sure that you present that information in a striking manner. In addition, make sure that consumers are able to find that information easily on your website at any other time. That means presenting that information in a logical place, behind a link with a logical name.

  • Make sure that, for consumers, cancelling the agreement is just as easy as taking one out. For example, in the main menu, include a separate, striking button with the text ‘Cancel subscription’.

  • Do not make cancelling the agreement harder than taking one out. Do not create any unnecessary barriers, for example by making consumers click more than twice in order to be able to cancel or by making them answer a long list of questions first.

  • Do not require consumers to cancel their agreements by regular mail or over the phone, if they had been able to take them out online. Cancelling an agreement must be possible in the same way as it was taken out.

Tips

  • Check whether consumers are easily able to find the instructions on how to cancel.

Examples

Example: if consumers took out a subscription online, they must be able to cancel it online as well

An online store selling beauty products offers subscriptions. Every month, subscribers get a surprise package containing six beauty products, delivered to their homes. Consumers can take out this subscription by filling out a form on the website. Information about cancellations is only mentioned in the general terms and conditions on the website. According to these terms, consumers can only cancel subscriptions over the phone. This is not allowed. The information on how to cancel subscriptions must be easy to find, for example, by clicking on a link called ‘cancellations’ on the homepage. In addition, since consumers are able to take out subscriptions using an online form, they also must be able to cancel their subscriptions using an online form.

Example: Not easy to cancel

A company offers a digital service. In order to cancel that service, consumers need to perform many online searches and illogical steps. The company asks consumers multiple times whether they really want to cancel their service. It uses emotional  messages in that context, for example “We’re sad to see you leave” or “These are the benefits you’ll lose”. This is a persuasion technique also known as ‘nagging’. This is not allowed. The company influences consumers inappropriately, which is not in the consumers’ interests.

Example: A clear choice menu with a cancellation button

An app offers a choice menu. This menu is clearly visible and easy-to-access from the app’s homepage. The choice menu also includes a button “Cancel your subscription”. This is good for consumers. In that way, consumers need not to click multiple times  unnecessarily in order to cancel their subscriptions.

Example: Not easy to unsubscribe from newsletter

An online retailer sends its customers a newsletter. In this newsletter, customers need to click on a link (using a small, light gray font) in order to unsubscribe from the newsletter. In addition, the retailer uses striking pictures that stimulate consumers to  continue using the service instead of unsubscribing from it. With these design techniques, the online retailer influences consumers. This is called ‘visual interference’. The combination of an unassuming link for unsubscribing from the newsletter and the striking pictures used for promoting the service constitutes inappropriate persuasion. That is not allowed.

Relevant regulations

Explanation of regulations

Enforcement

ACM: consumers should be able to cancel online any subscriptions that have been taken out online

Consumers must be able to cancel their subscriptions in the same way in which they took them out. So if you took out a subscription online, you must be able to cancel it online as well. With certain online subscriptions to newspapers, magazines, and lotteries, ACM observed that this was not the case. Consumers experienced high barriers to cancel, and, when talking to these companies over the phone, they felt pressured not to cancel their subscriptions or to agree to a new offer. ACM reminded businesses of the rules. These businesses have adjusted their practices.

European regulators: users must be able to cancel their subscriptions with two clicks

A major e-commerce platform offers a premium service for deliveries and also a streaming service for series and films. It was easy for consumers to take out subscriptions, but it was extremely cumbersome to cancel them. For example, users had to scroll  through dozens of pages, and click away warnings. The European Commission and European consumer authorities confronted the platform with their findings. Users of the service are now able to cancel their subscriptions with two clicks.

Germany: a cancellation button for subscription services

Since July 1, 2022, in Germany, it is mandatory for online providers of subscription services to offer a cancellation button. Consumers must be able to cancel their subscriptions with no more than two clicks. Providers must place a button on their website with the text (in German) ‘Click here to cancel your agreement’ or words to the same effect. If providers do not offer this button (or not clearly), the agreement with the consumer will be invalid.

The cancellation button must directly lead to a cancellation page. On that page, consumers must enter information to cancel their subscriptions, and indicate from what date they wish to cancel them. On that page, providers must also place a button with the text (in German) ‘Cancel now’ or words to the same effect. Consumers can then submit the cancellation form. Businesses must subsequently actually terminate the agreement. This means they cannot require consumers to take any follow-up steps for the cancellation to take place, such as logging in or confirming by email or app.

Disclaimer: this rule does not, as yet, apply in the Netherlands. However, ACM does recommend introducing this rule.

UK: Rules for automatic renewals of subscriptions

Well-known software companies renewed subscriptions to their software automatically. However, those companies did not inform consumers about that practice. As a result, consumers probably kept on paying for subscriptions they might not have wanted anymore or no longer needed. The UK consumer authority CMA confronted these companies of its findings. Now, those companies warn consumers when their subscriptions are about to be renewed, what the costs are for renewal, and when that amount will be collected. It is now also clearer to consumers how they are able to cancel their subscriptions. In addition, the companies offer consumers the opportunity to get their money back if their subscriptions have been renewed unwantedly.