ACCC sues Amazon, accusing it of using unfair contract terms to introduce advertisements to Prime Video

Australia’s competition watchdog has taken Amazon to court, accusing it of using unfair terms in its Prime Video subscription contracts to introduce advertisements to the streaming service. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission lodged the claim in the Federal Court on Tuesday, alleging Amazon Australia breached consumer laws with over a million annual subscribers who signed up for $79 per year. An additional $2.99 per month was required from July 2024 to view movies and television ad-free. The ACCC said the contracts included five terms permitting Amazon Australia to “unilaterally make materially adverse changes to its services ... without any contractual entitlement for subscribers to receive refunds or other meaningful redress”. “Consumers who wanted to avoid ads were left with no choice but to pay more to maintain the service they’d initially signed up for,” ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said. A spokeswoman for the tech giant said Amazon Australia was reviewing the case filed by the ACCC in detail. “We have cooperated with the ACCC throughout its investigation and remain focused on providing the best experience for our Australian customers,” she said. The ACCC is seeking declarations, penalties, consumer redress, costs and other orders, and says the action came after complaints from consumers about the ads.