Customer Friendly Regulation

We’re finally seeing many consumer-friendly initiatives from the Biden administration coming to fruition. The White House recently announced a Time is Money initiative that would require corporations to implement customer-friendly practices to eliminate long hold times and excessive paperwork for customers. This is a follow-up to a proposed rule from the Federal Trade Commission in March that would require companies to make it as easy to cancel service as it is to subscribe. These are parts of a larger effort to force large companies to treat customers better. I am sure there are those that who will say that the government shouldn’t be meddling in how companies treat their customers. However, that is one of the basic role for regulators. Regulators are supposed to balance the need of consumers with the needs of the companies they regulate.