If you sell an auto-renewing membership, remind the user prominently before signup and before each charge, and make the cancel entry easy to find

If you sell an auto-renewing membership, remind the user in a way that stands out, both before the user turns it on and before each charge. During the membership, give 1 entry that can cancel or change it at any time. It has to be easy to find and easy to tap, and you may not charge an unreasonable extra fee. If you take the money without the reminder, the fine can be 1 to 5 times the illegal gains. If there are no illegal gains, the fine is up to 300000 yuan.

Cost

It costs nothing. On the signup page, state the auto-renewal plainly, send 1 separate reminder before each charge, and put 1 button in the account center that can cancel at any time. The hard part is that some users will cancel as soon as the reminder arrives.

Benefit

The Measures for the Supervision and Administration of Online Transactions say that, where a service is provided by automatic extension, automatic renewal, or a similar method, you "shall, before the consumer accepts the service and before the date of the automatic extension, automatic renewal, or similar step, draw the consumer's attention in a prominent way, and leave the choice to the consumer." During the service you must also "provide the consumer with a prominent and simple option to cancel or change at any time, and must not charge an unreasonable fee." The regulations implementing the Law on the Protection of Consumer Rights and Interests have the same reminder requirement. If the reminder is not given, the penalty follows those implementing regulations: an order to correct, and a warning, confiscation of the illegal gains, and a fine of 1 to 5 times the illegal gains are allowed. If there are no illegal gains, the fine is up to 300000 yuan. In a serious case, you are ordered to suspend business for rectification, and the business license is revoked. If you do not give a convenient cancel entry, you are ordered to correct within a time limit, and a fine of up to 30000 yuan is allowed (nationwide).

Notes

The rules do not say what a "prominent way" looks like in detail. The safe practice is to send 1 separate reminder before each charge, and keep the record of sending it, so you can produce the evidence if someone complains. How to turn auto-renewal off from the user's side is in section 5, item 1 (turn off every auto-renewal).

Sources · 2

1. 国家市场监督管理总局 (2021, 2025 修正). 网络交易监督管理办法（总局令第 37 号，第十八、四十一条）. samr.gov.cn/zw/zfxxgk/fdzdgknr/fgs/art/2025/a…
2. 国务院 (2024). 消费者权益保护法实施条例（国务院令第 778 号，第十条第二款、第五十条）. gov.cn/zhengce/zhengceku/202403/content_69401…