Consumer organisation Choice has lent its weight behind calls to combat subscription traps and hard-to-cancel online subscriptions in Australia.

The initiative, led by WA independent Senator, Fatima Payman, is based on research showing that 75 per cent of Australians have issues cancelling subscriptions, with losses estimated at $46 million due to practices considered deceptive.

In a letter addressed to assistant treasurer Dr Andrew Leigh, Choice endorses Payman’s ‘Click to Cancel’ campaign, a call for mandatory easy cancellation and a ban on manipulative pricing tactics.

“In response to this enormous and growing problem, we, a group of consumer organisations, have gathered together to jointly request that the Commonwealth Government introduce protections to safeguard Australians from these deceptive and manipulative practices that exploit vulnerabilities in all of us,” the letter said.

“Research from the Consumer Policy Research Centre (CPRC) has found that three in four Australians have had difficulties cancelling a subscription and one in 10 simply give up and continue to pay for products and services they no longer need or want.”

Choice joins CPRC, the Consumer Action Law Centre, Council on the Ageing Australia, and the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network in supporting the initiative by signing the open letter.

“We need mandatory, easy cancellation methods and reminders for subscriptions, a ban on drip pricing and on manipulative scarcity tactics, as well as forced registration and dynamic pricing,” said Payman.