Everyone who has purchased concert tickets knows the pain of hidden fees. It looks like the seat is going to be a good deal. Then, the seller adds a list of fees to drive up the price for seemingly no reason. This isn’t just frustrating, it’s also costly. Luckily these fees could become a thing of the past. The Federal Trade Commission recently proposed a ban on junk fees across several industries.
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The FTC is looking to ban junk fees for more than just concert tickets. They want to strike these fees down completely. That would mean hidden fees on phone bills, utility bills, flight tickets, and more would go away.
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That is not to say that the FTC would force businesses to charge less. Instead, the new rule would force businesses to add those fees to the advertised price. As a result, consumers won’t get fooled by low advertised prices and huge hidden fees.
FTC Chair Lina M. Khan spoke about the ban on junk fees in a press release. “All too often, Americans are plagued with unexpected and unnecessary fees they can’t escape,” Khan said. “These junk fees now cost Americans tens of billions of dollars per year — money that corporations are extracting from working families just because they can.”
Khan went on to say that these fees make it harder for consumers to find the best prices on products or services. Additionally, the junk fees “punish businesses who are honest upfront.” The FTC’s ban on junk fees will serve multiple purposes. Khan explained that it “will save people money and time, and make our markets more fair and competitive.”
The new rule wouldn’t just ban junk fees. It will also give the FTC the ability to punish businesses that continue to charge hidden fees. According to the press release, “The proposed rule would also have enforcement teeth, allowing the FTC to secure refunds for harmed consumers and seeks monetary penalties against companies who do not comply with its provisions.
The proposed rule may not have an impact on the overall price of products or services. However, it will save consumers time. The FTC believes it will “save consumers more than 50 million hours per year of wasted time spent searching for the total price in live-ticketing and short-term lodging alone… This time savings is equivalent to more than $10 billion over the next decade.”
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