New York
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Amazon pays a historical settlement of $ 2.5 billion at the Federal Trade Commission, the agency announced on Thursday, so that a two -year dispute about accusations has ended the company, the company misled Consumers to register for its Prime Subscription Service and then made it difficult to cancel.
As part of the agreement, Amazon will pay a civil fine of $ 1 billion and provide $ 1.5 billion in reimbursements to an estimated 35 million customers who have “caused damage to their misleading Prime registration practices,” the agency said in a press release.
The agency said that this is the biggest civil fine in a case with an FTC rule violation. It is also the second highest reimbursement district obtained by the FTC.
The settlement only comes in a test between the FTC and Amazon for a few days. The lawsuit was filed under the BIDEN administration on the company’s cancellation policy in 2023.
“Today the Trump-Vance FTC has written history and achieved a record-breaking, monumental victory for the millions of Americans who are tired of deceptive subscriptions that are impossible to cancel,” said FTC chairman Andrew Ferguson.
“The evidence showed that Amazon used advanced subscription traps that were designed to manipulate consumers to register for Prime, and then made it extremely difficult for consumers to end their subscription,” he added.
“Amazon and our managers have always followed the law and this scheme enables us to move forward and concentrate on innovating for customers,” said Amazon spokesperson Mark Blafkin in a statement. “We work incredibly difficult to make customers clear and easy for customers to register or cancel their Prime membership, and to offer substantial value for our many millions of loyal prime members around the world.”
The company and the managers have also not admitted misconduct and said it made the changes to the FCC.
This includes the fact that Amazon can no longer have a button “No, I don’t want free shipping”. The FTC also said that the company must include “clear and striking disclosures” about the Prime conditions during the registration process and have “simple ways” to cancel the program.
Prime, which costs $ 14.99 a month or $ 139 annually, is a characteristic of the company’s offer and generates billions of dollars. The service initially started as an add-on for fast delivery. Since then, Prime has entered a versatile service that offers streaming entertainment, groceries, fuel and food delivery benefits, as well as only subscribers.
Amazon does not reveal how many American subscribers have, but one External analysis Van Consumer Intelligence Research Partners estimates that it has 197 million customers from March 2025.
The payout of $ 2.5 billion represents 5.6% of Prime subscription income last year, which, according to Emarketer analyst Zak Stambor, won $ 44 billion. He added that the settlement “Prime can streamline the cancellation process, but it won’t affect the dominance of the program.”
Former FTC chairman Lina Khan, who led the agency when the lawsuit was filed, said in a Social Media Post On Thursday, a settlement only a few days after the jury court of Amazon saved the company “of probably liable because he has violated the law”, so that it “can pay its way”.
“A fine of $ 2.5 billion is a drop in the bucket for Amazon and undoubtedly a big relief for managers who have knowingly and knowingly harming their customers,” said Khan.
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