NY Mayor Mamdani Issues Two Executive Orders Aimed at Pricing Pra

On January 5, New York Metropolis Mayor Zohran Mamdani issued two govt orders aimed toward rising scrutiny of pricing practices that the Metropolis views as contributing to affordability issues. Govt Order 9 addresses sure add-on or submit buy expenses generally known as “junk charges,” whereas Govt Order 10 targets subscription enrollment and cancellation practices described by Metropolis officers as “subscription tips and traps.”

Executive Order 9 facilities on charge transparency. It establishes an interagency process power to coordinate the Metropolis’s strategy to figuring out and addressing charges which can be allegedly disclosed late within the transaction course of or offered in a fashion the Metropolis considers deceptive. The order instructs the Division of Shopper and Employee Safety (DCWP) to research such practices, monitor compliance, and pursue enforcement the place applicable beneath present regulation. Though the order doesn’t outline the scope of coated charges, it indicators heightened consideration to pricing practices that improve the ultimate value to customers past the marketed value.

Executive Order 10 focuses on subscription-based enterprise fashions. The order highlights practices resembling automated renewals following free or discounted trial intervals and cancellation processes that require a number of steps or are troublesome for customers to find. It directs the DCWP to coordinate with different enforcement our bodies, together with the the New York Legal professional Normal’s Workplace, and to develop suggestions for potential Metropolis Council laws. The order additionally authorizes DCWP to research and implement alleged violations associated to subscription practices utilizing its present instruments.

Whereas neither govt order creates new substantive prohibitions, each direct Metropolis businesses to extra actively use present shopper safety authorities to handle charge transparency and subscription practices. The orders emphasize investigation, monitoring, interagency coordination, and enforcement beneath present regulation quite than the adoption of latest regulatory requirements.

Placing It Into Follow: The manager orders mirror a broader sample of state and native regulators asserting shopper safety authority as federal coverage continues to shift. Corporations working in New York Metropolis, notably these utilizing subscription fashions or layered pricing buildings, ought to reassess disclosures, enrollment flows, renewal phrases, and cancellation mechanisms for compliance with present native shopper safety requirements.