President Joe Biden is expected to unveil new efforts to crack down on junk fees during an event at the White House Wednesday, while announcing $2 billion in savings and $140 million in consumer refunds from previous crackdowns on junk fees from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
According to an administration fact sheet shared with CNN ahead of Wednesday’s announcement, the Federal Trade Commission will unveil a proposed rule that the Biden administration says would ban businesses from charging hidden or misleading fees and require companies to show full prices upfront, preventing event ticketing companies, hotels and lodging companies, apartment and car rental agencies, and more from levying surprise or unexpected service charges.
“For President Biden, kitchen table economics is at the heart of growing the economy from the middle out and bottom up – that’s because he thinks a lot about how it feels for a family to sit around the kitchen table, choosing which bills to pay and what order each month, because there isn’t enough money to cover everything,” National Economic Council Director Lael Brainard told reporters on a call Tuesday.
“That’s why we’ve made it a priority to crack down on the junk fees that are hidden away in payments for so many services and that really add up. … Those sneaky fees might not matter a lot to the wealthiest Americans, but they sure do matter for hardworking Americans sitting around the kitchen table trying to stay on top of their bills and have a little left over,” Brainard continued.
According to an official, the proposed junk fee rule would not limit what sellers can charge, but would require that vendors, including ticket sellers, disclose final costs upfront.
“We want companies competing on price, not on their ability to hide prices from consumers,” the official said. “So what our rule would…
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