Biden-Harris new regulations would target corporations that waste consumers

The Biden Administration on Monday unveiled a new, multi-agency regulatory initiative to target corporate practices that officials claim are designed to waste consumers’ time and needlessly burden them with red tape, in order to maximize profits.

“I think we can all relate to this,” White House domestic policy advisor Neera Tanden told reporters Friday.

“For example, you want to cancel your gym membership or subscription service or newspaper. It took one or two clicks to sign up. But now … you have to go in person, or wait on hold for 20 minutes … just to opt out,” she said.

Dubbed the “Time is Money” initiative, the actions will make it easier for consumers to cancel subscriptions, get refunds, submit health care and insurance forms online, and access high-quality customer service.

The new initiative is being launched at a unique moment for the Biden administration. Democratic presidential nominee and Vice President Kamala Harris is preparing to unveil her presidential campaign’s first economic policy plans this week.

Broad efforts like “Time is Money” could serve as opportunities for Harris to carry forward the Biden administration’s longstanding consumer protection mandate in new ways.

“In all of these practices, the companies are delaying services to you, or really trying to make it so difficult for you to cancel the service, that they get to hold on to your money for longer and longer,” Tanden said Friday.

Among the new initiatives announced Monday are a series of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) rule makings, that will target customer service “doom loops” and ineffective chatbots used by some financial institutions.

“The CFPB will identify when the use of automated chatbots or automated artificial intelligence voice recordings is unlawful, including in situations in which customers believe they are speaking with a human being,” according to a White House fact sheet.

Meanwhile, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will launch a parallel inquiry into whether to expand the CFPB’s proposed customer service requirements to include phone, broadband and cable providers.

The second FCC inquiry will consider adopting requirements similar to the Federal Trade Commission’s current “Click to Cancel” proposal. The FTC plan would require companies to make it as easy to cancel subscriptions and memberships as it is to sign up for them.

The initiative also calls on health insurance companies to allow policyholders to submit claims online.

A letter from Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and Department of Labor Acting Secretary Julie Su…