Overview
- The Federal Court of Australia ruled on Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026, that eHarmony engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct over how it described free access, membership length, cancellation rules and pricing.
- Justice Christopher Horan found automatic‑renewal terms were not prominently shown, that monthly prices hid the minimum total cost, and that Basic (free) members could not meaningfully message other users without paying.
- Court records show about 1.3 million Australians held Basic accounts from November 2019 to June 2024 and 258,956 bought premium plans, with roughly 44,856 premium accounts auto‑renewing once and more than 7,000 auto‑renewing multiple times.
- The ACCC brought the case after hundreds of complaints about surprise charges, difficulty cancelling and debt‑collection referrals; the regulator says the ruling highlights risky subscription practices in digital services.
- The court will set penalties and orders for consumer redress at a later hearing, and eHarmony says it is carefully reviewing the judgment as regulators and other platforms watch for wider consumer‑protection implications.