Summary
The FTC has finalized a rule banning “junk fees” for hotels, live-event tickets, and vacation rentals, requiring businesses to disclose total prices upfront.
Set to take effect in April 2025, the rule could save consumers 53 million hours and $11 billion over a decade by eliminating surprise charges like “resort fees” at checkout.
While business groups, like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, oppose the rule as overregulation, FTC Chair Lina Khan asserts its legality and bipartisan support.
The rule aligns with the Biden administration’s broader efforts to lower costs amid ongoing inflation.
When is the government going to be subject to these same rules by requiring taxes to be included in the price of items instead of being calculated during check out?
All unavoidable costs should be in the price listed/advertised/shown.
Agreed 100% but it is more complicated for online shopping in general as sales tax is largely unknown in many cases until you have billing or shipping address which is not always known upfront.
In the case of this rule though, related to events and short term lodgings, there is a pretty obvious jurisdiction in most cases so allowing a “government charges” exemption is nonsense.