New Year Brings Heightened Focus on Junk Fee Pricing and Consumer Subscriptions in New York

Pricing practices involving fees charged to consumers and the subscription economy, including automatic renewal laws, have been hot topics in recent years. These practices have received attention from federal and state regulators and lawmakers and in class action cases, and activity in these spaces continues to increase.

On January 5, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani kicked off his administration by signing two Executive Orders aimed at combatting the “crisis of affordability” faced by New Yorkers by targeting hidden fees (so-called “junk fees”) and subscription tricks and traps. Both Executive Orders signal New York City’s intention to ramp up focus on and enforcement efforts concerning these consumer protection areas. The new administration’s attention to these areas is in line with Mayor Mamdani appointing Lina Khan, the former chairwoman of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) under President Joe Biden, as transition co-chair and the subsequent appointment of Sam Levine, formerly the director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, as the Commissioner of the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP).

Executive Order No. 9 – Combatting Hidden Junk Fees

Executive Order No. 9 calls out “junk fee pricing [that] hides mandatory extra charges until the end of checkout, making the initial price seem lower than what is ultimately charged[.]” With this Executive Order, New York City established an inter-agency Citywide Junk Fee Task Force that will be co-chaired by the Deputy Mayor for Economic Justice and the Commissioner of the DCWP and will consist of representatives from other relevant City agencies. This Task Force is charged with coordinating and advancing the City’s “work to combat hidden junk fees and promote affordability for New Yorkers,” with a focus on rulemaking, enforcement and public education.

In furtherance of these goals, the DCWP is directed to promulgate new rules under its existing authority and to recommend new legislation that may be proposed relating to hidden junk fees. Additionally, the DCWP is instructed, “as soon as practicable,” to “monitor for compliance, investigate potential violations, and take such compliance and enforcement actions” as are authorized by applicable rules and laws.

Executive Order No. 9 fits within an ecosystem of New York laws and regulations that aim to ensure the disclosure of fees and surcharges that a consumer must pay. For example, New York General Business Law § 518 requires any seller that imposes a surcharge for payment via credit card to “clearly and conspicuously post the total price for using a credit card,” including the surcharge, and caps the amount of any surcharge at the amount the business is charged by the credit card company. As another example, New York Arts & Cultural Affairs Law § 25.07 imposes requirements on the disclosure of mandatory service charges to consumers who purchase tickets to places of entertainment in New York.

Read Executive Order No. 9 .

Executive Order No. 10 – Fighting Subscription Tricks and Traps

Executive Order No. 10 takes aim at businesses that “deceptively enroll people into subscriptions and unfairly keep them stuck there, including through making it difficult to cancel[.]” The Executive Order directs the DCWP to “prioritize monitoring, investigating, and taking enforcement action” against businesses using subscription-related practices “that deceive or mislead consumers, including but not limited to, enrolling people into subscriptions, misrepresenting or failing to disclose pricing or renewal terms, and unfairly keeping them subscribed by making it difficult to cancel[.]” The DCWP is instructed to consider additional tools and actions, such as rulemaking under its existing authority, issuing recommendations to the New York City Council about additional necessary protections and coordinating with the Law Department and the New York State Attorney General.  

Executive Order No. 10 comes on the heels of a recent update to New York’s automatic-renewal law and enforcement actions by the New York State Attorney General. Effective November 5, 2025, changes to New York General Business Law §§ 527 and 527-A created new obligations for companies offering automatically renewing subscription services, including in the areas of initial notice requirements, affirmative consent, renewal reminders, and notices for material changes and price increases. Further, in 2025, Attorney General Leticia James’s office (1) announced a with Equinox Group (the company behind Equinox gyms and SoulCycle) that required Equinox Group to pay $600,000 in penalties, change its subscription practices and offer refunds to members who had been unable to cancel their subscriptions and (2) joined, along with a coalition of 20 other state attorneys general, a previously filed by the FTC against Uber alleging deceptive practices connected with its Uber One subscription service.

Read Executive Order No. 10 .

Why It Matters: Companies offering subscription services or utilizing pricing strategies involving additional fees or surcharges should be prepared for continued scrutiny in New York and beyond. It is no coincidence that the new Commissioner of DCWP, Sam Levine, led the FTC’s work on junk fees and the issuance of the “Click to Cancel” Negative Option Rule during the Biden Administration under Lina Khan as the FTC Chairwoman. While the latter FTC rule was voided in July 2025 by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, Ms. Khan and Mr. Levine now have another opportunity, albeit on a New York City platform, to continue their pursuit of stronger consumer protection laws and enforcement. On January 15, just weeks into his role as the new Commissioner of DCWP, the DCWP filed a against Motoclick, a delivery app, alleging that the company “stole” from workers’ paychecks, including by charging them an improper fee. While this action is not directly related to the two Executive Orders issued by Mayor Mamdani, his administration and the DCWP are sending a clear signal that they intend to pursue aggressive enforcement actions.

Manatt’s Consumer Protection and Advertising specializes in compliance with , including litigation, regulatory investigations and compliance audits to minimize potential exposure and reduce the risk of future litigation or enforcement actions. Manatt also offers resources for companies facing these issues, including , a comprehensive guide of ARL laws in the United States, complete with U.S. maps, compliance checklists, best practices and resource charts.