Amazon to pay $2.5bn to settle FTC lawsuit over Prime ‘subscription traps’

US regulator said company enrolled millions of customers into service without consent and made it difficult to cancel

Amazon has agreed to pay $2.5bn in fines and redress to Prime subscribers to settle a lawsuit by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which accused the retail giant of signing users up for the service without their consent and making it difficult to cancel.

In a statement, the FTC said $1.5bn of the total will go into a fund to repay eligible subscribers, on top of a $1bn civil penalty. Amazon has been contacted for comment.