The consumer watchdog has called for new powers in Australian consumer law to crack down on such practices since 2017. A spokesperson for the regulator said subscription traps can cause “significant harm to consumers and some small businesses.” “These practices make it difficult for consumers to cancel subscriptions after fixed-term periods, with the consequence that many subscriptions roll over to paid subscriptions despite consumers no longer utilizing or wanting them,” the spokesperson said. The report cites a discrepancy in the steps required to canceled an Amazon Prime subscription. In Europe, “there is a simple two-step process,” reports the Guardian. “But customers in Australia must navigate four convoluted steps, with the wording and location of the cancellation button changing between each screen.”
This is due to Australia’s lack of unfair trading practices laws that exist in Europe and other countries.
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