The Biden Administration\u00a0on Monday unveiled a new, multi-agency regulatory initiative to target corporate practices that officials claim are designed to waste consumers\u2019 time and needlessly burden them with red tape, in order to maximize profits.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we can all relate to this,\u201d White House domestic policy advisor Neera Tanden told reporters Friday.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor example, you want to cancel your gym membership or subscription service or newspaper. It took one or two clicks to sign up. But now \u2026 you have to go in person, or wait on hold for 20 minutes \u2026 just to opt out,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Dubbed the \u201cTime is Money\u201d initiative, the actions will make it easier for consumers to cancel subscriptions, get refunds, submit\u00a0health care\u00a0and insurance forms online, and access high-quality customer service.<\/p>\n
The new initiative is being launched at a unique moment for the Biden administration. Democratic presidential nominee and Vice President\u00a0Kamala Harris\u00a0is preparing to unveil her presidential campaign\u2019s first economic policy plans this week.<\/p>\n
Broad efforts like \u201cTime is Money\u201d could serve as opportunities for Harris to carry forward the Biden administration\u2019s longstanding consumer protection mandate in new ways.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn 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,\u201d Tanden said Friday.<\/p>\n
Among the new initiatives announced Monday are a series of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) rule makings, that will target customer service \u201cdoom loops\u201d and ineffective chatbots used by some financial institutions.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe 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,\u201d according to a White House fact sheet.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will launch a parallel inquiry into whether to expand the CFPB\u2019s proposed customer service requirements to include phone, broadband and cable providers.<\/p>\n
The second FCC inquiry will consider adopting requirements similar to the Federal Trade Commission\u2019s current\u00a0\u201cClick to Cancel\u201d\u00a0proposal. The FTC plan would require companies to make it as easy to cancel subscriptions and memberships as it is to sign up for them.<\/p>\n
The initiative also calls on health insurance companies to allow policyholders to submit claims online.<\/p>\n
A letter from Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and Department of Labor Acting Secretary Julie Su will be sent to health insurance companies and group health plans on Monday, urging them \u201cto take concrete actions to save people time and money when interacting with their health coverage,\u201d according to the White House fact sheet.<\/p>\n
Not all of the \u201cTime is Money\u201d initiatives are new, however. Several are previously announced actions, including a rule issued by the Department of Transportation in April that requires airlines to automatically issue\u00a0cash refunds.<\/p>\n
Another existing effort cited by the White House is a June 2023 FTC proposal to target companies that use deceptive customer\u00a0feedback practices, like fake reviews.<\/p>\n
None of the actions that make up the \u201cTime is Money\u201d initiative will require congressional approval, a senior administration official said. Republicans currently control the House of Representatives, and any new consumer protection bills would face long odds.<\/p>\n
Monday\u2019s \u201cTime is Money\u201d initiatives are the latest step in a long line of aggressive consumer protection actions the Biden administration has taken over the past three years.<\/p>\n
The White House has pursued aggressive\u00a0antitrust regulations\u00a0and taken a highly skeptical approach to crypto currencies, both of which have rankled Wall Street.<\/p>\n
Biden has also championed a fight against what he labels\u00a0\u201cunfair and illegal pricing,\u201d\u00a0including so-called\u00a0junk fees, corporate \u201cprice gouging\u201d and\u00a0shrinkflation.<\/p>\n
Still, the White House official insisted to reporters Friday that \u201cthis is not about shaming corporations writ large.\u201d<\/p>\n
Instead, the \u201cTime is Money\u201d initiatives represent \u201ca new frontier of consumer protections,\u201d the official said. \u201cThat is the way that we are thinking about it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The Biden Administration\u00a0on Monday unveiled a new, multi-agency regulatory initiative to target corporate practices that officials claim are designed to waste consumers\u2019 time and needlessly burden them with red tape, in order to maximize profits. \u201cI think we can all relate to this,\u201d White House domestic policy advisor Neera Tanden told reporters Friday. \u201cFor example, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":7730,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7729","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7729","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7729"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7729\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7730"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}