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Amazon Being forced to pay $2.5 billion colony On top of this, eligible customers main Membership following a landmark decision by the Federal Trade Commission.
According to the agency, US regulators argued that the company misled millions of users into paying for subscriptions that were intentionally difficult to cancel. announced,
The FTC announced this in late September Amazon has agreed to pay $1 billion in civil penalties to the government and $1.5 billion in redress payments to affected customers. Those eligible to receive some of the settlement include customers who may have signed up for a subscription through Amazon’s “single page checkout” between June 23, 2019, and June 23, 2025.
The surprise settlement came as Amazon and the FTC were locked in a three-day trial in the tech giant’s hometown of Seattle, where a jury was empaneled to determine whether Amazon broke the law.
The agency said a lawsuit was filed against Amazon in 2023 by the FTC, accusing them of “knowingly misleading millions of consumers into enrolling in Prime.”
Regulators also claimed that Amazon created a deliberately complex, multi-step cancellation process to keep users trapped in their subscriptions.
Under the agreement, Amazon is not allowed to misrepresent the terms of Prime. The company is now required to clearly disclose the terms of the program during enrollment, and require consumers to express their consent before charging them for membership.
The company can no longer have a button that says, “No, I don’t want free shipping,” the FTC said, and must provide users an easy way to cancel their subscription.
Amazon admitted there was no wrongdoing in the deal. In a statement, spokesman Mark Blafkin told The Independent, “”Amazon and our executives have always followed the law and this settlement allows us to move forward and focus on innovation for customers.”
He added, “We work incredibly hard to make it clear and simple for customers to sign up or cancel their Prime membership, and to provide substantial value to our millions of loyal Prime members around the world. We’ll continue to do so, and look forward to what we’ll do for Prime members in the years to come.”
FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson praised the settlement as a “monumental victory” for the agency, saying in a statement that the FTC is “committed to fighting when companies try to defraud ordinary Americans of their hard-earned money.”
“Today we’re putting billions of dollars back in Americans’ pockets, and making sure Amazon can never do this again,” Ferguson said.
According to CNBC, the settlement is the largest ever imposed by the FTC. In 2019, the agency fined Meta, then known as Facebook, $5 billion for violating consumers’ privacy.
Amazon Prime offers customers perks including fast shipping, video streaming, and discounts at Whole Foods supermarkets. Subscription costs $139 per year, or $14.99 per month.
What does it mean to you
Amazon Prime customers eligible to receive some of the $1.5 billion remediation payment also include users who signed up for the membership through the company’s “single page checkout.”
Customers were given the option to access that particular webpage between June 23, 2019, and June 23, 2025.
The $1.5 billion fund will be available to an estimated 35 million users who were affected by unwanted Prime memberships or delayed cancellations. According to Reuters.
According to the report, Amazon will pay up to $51 to individual Prime customers who submit valid claims and may make additional payments.
Affected customers do not need to file a claim. Instead, Amazon will send automatic payments to people who used their Prime benefits three times or less during a 12-month enrollment period.
Eligible customers will receive payment by December 24. USA Today Informed.
Those who do not qualify for automatic payments will receive information on how to file a claim by January 23, 2026, and will have until July 23, 2026, to submit the required forms.
With reporting from the Associated Press.