New legal troubles for Amazon. The e-commerce giant agreed to pay 2.5 billion dollars to close a cause intended by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the American agency that deals with competition and consumer protection.
At the center of the accusations is the management of subscriptions in Prime, the service that has over 200 million members all over the world and that offers quick shipments, films, TV series and other advantages. According to the FTC, Amazon would have adopted deceptive practices for years both in the subscription phase and in that of cancellation of the service.
The accusations of the FTC
The FTC, which started the cause in 2023, accused Amazon of:
A strategy that, according to the FTC, would have led to “forced” inscriptions or unwanted renewals. The stakes was actually enormous: only in 2024, Prime generated over 44 billion dollars of revenues for Amazon.
The contested practices would constitute a violation of the online restore ‘confidentence act, an American law of 2010 that protects consumers in purchases and online subscriptions. For the FTC it would be over a decade of violations.
FTC President Andrew Ferguson said:
The tests showed that Amazon used sophisticated traps for subscriptions, designed to manipulate consumers and convince them to subscribe to first, then making it extremely difficult for them to cancel the subscription. Today we are putting billions of dollars in the pockets of the Americans and we assure that Amazon never makes such a thing again.
The record fine (also for reimbursements)
The agreement closes a procedure started in 2023 and provides for the payment of 1 billion dollars in civil sanctions, the highest figure ever imposed by the FTC, as well as 1.5 billion dollars to be used for reimbursements for the customers involved.
Amazon agreed to pay the sum, but has not admitted any fault.
Who will be entitled to a refund? Consumers who will be able to ask for compensation are those who have enrolled in the front through the Single Page Checkout system between 23 June 2019 and 23 June 2025, those who found themselves registered without realizing it or found obstacles in the cancellation procedure. These are exclusively American customers who will be able to receive up to 51 dollars back.
The agreement also obliges Amazon to stop the contested practices and deeply review the flows of registration and cancellation of first. Must:
But the troubles for Amazon did not end like this: the company will have to face another federal cause much wider, in which the FTC accuses it of abuse of the dominant position. The process, scheduled for the beginning of 2027, may have even heavier repercussions on the e-commerce giant.
