Amazon will pay $2.5 billion to Ftc to settle Prime case
The agreement between Amazon and the Ftc comes on the heels of imminent legal proceedings without having to go to court
1' min read
1' min read
Amazon has reached a historic $2.5 billion settlement with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) after the US agency said the online retail giant misled customers into signing up for its Prime subscriptions and making it difficult to cancel them. The Seattle-based company will pay $1 billion in civil penalties - the largest fine in the history of the Ftc - while $1.5 billion will go to consumers who were unwittingly enrolled in Prime or discouraged from cancelling their subscriptions, the Ftc reported.
Eligible Prime customers include those who may have signed up via the company's 'Single Page Checkout' between 23 June 2019 and 23 June 2025. The Federal Trade Commission had sued Amazon in US District Court in Seattle two years ago, accusing the company of more than a decade of legal violations. Among them was a violation of the Restore Online Shoppers' Confidence Act, a 2010 law designed to ensure that people know exactly what online charges relate to. Amazon has not admitted any fault in the settlement.
