Trade Regulation Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees
The Federal Trade Commission commences a rulemaking to promulgate a trade regulation rule entitled "Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees," which would prohibit unfair or deceptive practices relating to fees for goods or services, specifically, misrepresenting the total costs of goods and services by omitting mandatory fees from advertised prices and misrepresenting the nature and purpose of fees. The Commission finds these unfair or deceptive practices relating to fees to be prevalent based on prior enforcement, the comments it received in response to an advance notice of proposed rulemaking, and other information discussed in this proposal. The Commission now solicits written comment, data, and arguments concerning the utility and scope of the trade regulation rule proposed in this notice of proposed rulemaking to prevent the identified unfair or deceptive practices.
What this rule actually says
The FTC is cracking down on hidden fees. If advertising a service for $50/month but actually charging $65/month because of mandatory add-ons, that's what this rule targets. It bans two specific tricks: (1) advertising a price while hiding mandatory fees that should be included in that advertised price, and (2) misrepresenting what a fee actually is or what it pays for.
Who it applies to
- If you charge users money for any AI product or service — this applies. Medical scribes with subscription fees, hiring assistants with per-employee pricing, support chatbots with usage-based billing all count.
- If you advertise or market in the US — jurisdiction matters. This is a US federal rule.
- If you fail to disclose mandatory fees upfront — you're in scope. Optional upsells or add-ons are generally fine; mandatory charges that customers can't avoid are what the rule targets.
- If you misrepresent what fees are for — in scope. Calling a "service charge" something else to obscure its purpose, or claiming a fee goes to one thing when it goes to another.
- Data scope: This rule is about pricing practices, not data collection, so your handling of customer data doesn't trigger this rule directly.
What founders need to do
- Audit your pricing page and ads (1-2 days). Write down every charge a customer pays. If the advertised price omits any mandatory fees, fix it now. Example: if ads say "$10/month" but customers actually pay $10 + $2 platform fee, advertise "$12/month."
- Check your fee labels (2-4 hours). Make sure each fee name honestly describes what it is. Don't call a per-seat charge a "support fee" if it's really a per-user licensing fee.
- Review your checkout flow (1-2 days). Customers should see the total price clearly before they commit to paying. No surprise mandatory charges at the final step.
- Document your pricing logic (1-2 hours). Keep notes on why each fee exists and how it's calculated. If the FTC comes asking, you need a clear answer.
- Monitor ongoing (30 mins/quarter). As you launch new pricing tiers, add-ons, or integrations, apply the same lens: are all mandatory charges obvious in the advertised price?
Bottom line
If you're listing a price anywhere (website, ads, email, pitch decks), make sure it's the real price customers actually pay—monitor this now, especially before you scale.