In a historical settlement of $ 2.5 billion with the Federal Trade Committee, the Amazonafter accusations that she cheated on her clients to enroll in subscriptions Prime And then it made it difficult to cancel these subscriptions.
In particular, Amazon will pay $ 1 billion in urban fines – the largest fine in the history of the Federal Committee of Trade – while $ 1.5 billion will be paid to consumers who were unintentionally registered with Prime or prevented from their 25.9th. Prime customers who are entitled to compensation include those who may be registered for subscription through the company’s “Single Page Checkout” between June 23, 2019 and June 23, 2025.
The Federal Trade Committee sued Amazon at the US Regional Court in Seattle two years ago, claiming more than a decade of legal violations. This included a violation of the law on restoring the confidence of electronic buyers, a 2010 law designed to ensure that people know what is being charged online. Amazon did not admit any offense to settlement.
Amazon Prime provides subscribers that includes faster shipping, streaming videos and discounts on a US department store for $ 139 a year or $ 14.99 per month.
It is a key and growing part of Amazon’s business, with more than 200 million members. In its latest financial report, the company said in July recorded net revenue of more than $ 12 billion for subscription services, a 12% increase over the same period last year. This amount includes annual and monthly charges related to Prime subscriptions, as well as other subscription services, such as music and electronic book platforms.
The company said it clearly explains Prime’s terms before charging customers and offering simple ways of canceling subscription, by phone, internet and online.
“Sporadic resentments and customer errors are inevitable – especially for a program as popular as Amazon Prime,” Amazon said in a testimony last month.
However, the Federal Trade Committee said Amazon deliberately made customers to buy a product without being registered with Prime. In some cases, consumers had a button to complete their transactions, which did not clearly state that they would also be enrolled in Prime, the Commission said. The interruption of a subscription was often very complicated and Amazon’s leadership slowed or rejected changes that would make the cancellation easier, according to her complaint.
In intra -group, Amazon called the “Iliad” process as it requires the customer to confirm his desire to cancel the subscription on three pages.
The Federal Trade Committee began examining Amazon’s subscription practices in Prime in 2021 during the first Trump government, but the lawsuit was filed in 2023 under former Commission President Lina Khan, a monopoly specialist appointed by President Joe.