Tech giant Amazon is set to reimburse customers for ‘duping’ them into Prime Video subscriptions and making the cancellation process obscure, after its agreed to a $2.5 billion settlement in a dispute with the United States Fair Trade Commission (FTC).
Of the $2.5 billion settlement, $1 billion would be paid in fines to the FTC and the remaining $1.5 billion is to be disbursed to affected customers, as per a Reuters report. Amazon has not admitted to wrongdoing as part of the settlement.
The FTC launched its antitrust lawsuit against Amazon in 2023, where federal officials alleged that Amazon duped millions of customers into subscribing to Prime and then making the membership “extremely difficult” to cancel.
Are you eligible for Amazon’s FTC settlement payout?
As many as 3.50 crore Prime customers in the US are eligible for payout from the $1.5 billion fund, according to the FTC. This includes customers who signed up for Prime between June 23, 2019 and June 23, 2025 through certain offers, as per the report.
Court documents showed to each affected party will automatically receive $51, according to court documents, the report added.
How to claim the Prime settlement amount from Amazon?
The US based customers have used their Prime benefits three times or less in any 12-month period, will automatically receive the $51 payout by December 24, 2025, according to a report by USA Today.
The company told the publication that affected parties will get monetary compensation, not Amazon credits or gift cards, processed by a third-party claims administrator.
Once the automatic payments are completed, the administrator will send out information for other Prime customers seeking to make claims by January 23, 2026. Those eligible can submit their claims forms till July 23, 2026, it added.
Who are the eligible customers?
All Prime customers who signed up for the service between June 23, 2019 and June 23, 2025 and were unsuccessful in trying to cancel their subscriptions, or were enrolled into Prime through offers such as free trials or same day delivery promises, are eligible for the $51 payout, according to the court order.
Such methods have been described in the court documents as “challenged enrollment flow” and includes certain pages on the Amazon website, including the “Universal Prime Decision Page, the Shipping Option Select Page, Prime Video enrollment flow, or the Single Page Checkout”, per the court order.
How has the FTC and Amazon reacted?
FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson called the deal “a record-breaking, monumental win for the millions of Americans who are tired of deceptive subscriptions that feel impossible to cancel.”
The Reuters report noted that while the case is a sure “win” for consumers and the FTC, the settlement is “relatively painless” for Amazon. This is because the settlement amount $2.5 billion is something the company makes in sales every 33 hours.
“We work incredibly hard to make it clear and simple for customers to both sign up or cancel their Prime membership, and to offer substantial value for our many millions of loyal Prime members around the world,” Amazon stated.
As part of the settlement, Amazon has agreed to create a “clear and conspicuous” button to allow customers to decline a Prime subscription, and to make it easier to cancel.
Amazon has also agreed to more clearly disclose the terms of a subscription during enrolment and pay an independent supervisor to monitor compliance.
(With inputs from Reuters)