New York in-car subscription ban Still Exempts Connected Services and Software Maintenance

New York in-car subscription ban Clears Legislature, Targets Heated Seats Paywalls

Automakers have spent the last few years imagining a future where drivers pay monthly fees to unlock features like heated seats or extra horsepower—a business model that drivers strongly dislike. Now, New York lawmakers are stepping in to challenge the practice. The New York in-car subscription ban bill has cleared both chambers of the state legislature and awaits the Governor’s signature.

State Senator James Skoufis, the bill’s sponsor, calls the practice “the next wave of corporate nickel-and-diming,” arguing that if the hardware is already in the car, drivers should not have to pay continually to use it.

Here is a closer look at what the bill aims to ban, and the significant loopholes that remain.

The Core Ban: No Paying Twice for Hardware

The new legislation targets “Feature-on-Demand” (FoD) subscriptions, which require recurring payments to enable features that rely entirely on physical components already installed in the car at the time of purchase.

Violations of the law could trigger fines of up to $250 per sale, sending a clear message to manufacturers who seek to charge drivers for features they already own.

The Critical Loophole: Connected Services Are Exempt

To avoid placing an undue burden on automakers who provide genuine, ongoing services, the bill contains a long list of exemptions. Automakers can still charge for any feature that requires a continuous data connection or software maintenance. This exemption creates a critical loophole that could preserve the subscription model for advanced systems.

The larger concern is how easily automakers could redesign basic features to require minimal data transmissions or periodic software checks, just enough to qualify as “connected services” and circumvent the ban.

The bill won’t end in-car subscriptions altogether, but it represents a powerful legislative pushback. With similar proposals emerging in New Jersey and Massachusetts, New York may be the first state in a broader movement aimed at forcing automakers to align the cost of a recurring payment with the value of an ongoing service.

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