President Joe Biden delivers remarks on hidden junk charges throughout an occasion within the Rose Garden of the White House, Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023, in Washington.

Evan Vucci/AP

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Evan Vucci/AP

President Joe Biden delivers remarks on hidden junk charges throughout an occasion within the Rose Garden of the White House, Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023, in Washington.

Evan Vucci/AP

Many customers are not any strangers to added and shock charges, from shopping for airline tickets to renting a automotive or ordering takeout.

These pesky expenses are the goal of new actions announced Wednesday by the Biden administration, which hopes to stamp out so-called “junk fees” and make it simpler for patrons to know what they’re paying and why.

“Folks are … tired of being taken advantage of, and being played for suckers,” Biden said in remarks on the White House.

“These junk fees may not matter to the wealthy,” he added, “but they sure matter to working folks in homes like the one I grew up in.”

One sweeping measure introduced Wednesday is a rule proposed by the Federal Trade Commission that may block firms all through the economic system from charging hidden and “bogus” charges, forcing sellers to reveal all obligatory prices up entrance.

The FTC may cost firms monetary penalties for violating the rule, which backers say would permit customers to match costs extra simply and degree the enjoying area for companies that show their complete prices upfront.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau can be ordering banks and credit unions to supply clients with fundamental data — resembling their account balances — with out charging charges.

Later this month, the CFPB will suggest a separate rule that may power monetary establishments to permit clients to simply share their data with different banks in the event that they wish to change, the White House added.

Neil Bradley, govt vp of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said in a statement that the Biden administration’s crackdown on “junk fees” would hurt customers.

“Every minute of every day, Americans engage in close to 400,000 transactions, buying and selling goods and services,” Bradley stated. “It is baffling that the administration believes it is going to help consumers by regulating how businesses price all of those transactions.”

But shopper advocates applauded the administration’s actions on the charges, which officers estimate value patrons greater than $64 billion annually.

“It is clear that Americans across party lines are tired of being scammed and forced into paying worthless junk fees,” Erin Witte, director of shopper safety on the Consumer Federation of America, said in a statement. Witte added that “junk fees” disproportionately have an effect on low-income customers and communities of colour.

Chip Rogers, president and CEO of the American Hotel & Lodging Association, stated in an announcement that the group would evaluate the FTC rule however that it “supports creating a single standard for mandatory fee display across the lodging industry – from short-term rental platforms, where fees are most prevalent, to online travel agencies, metasearch sites, and hotels.”

Earlier this 12 months, Biden used a part of his State of the Union speech to urge lawmakers to pass the Junk Fees Prevention Act, proposed laws that may restrict the extreme charges charged by firms.