Amazon To Pay $61.7 Million To Settle Expenses It Stole Driver Ideas

WASHINGTON (Reuters) — Amazon.com Inc agreed to pay greater than $61.7 million to settle allegations it cheated Amazon Flex drivers out of practically one-third of ideas from prospects for greater than two years, the Federal Commerce Fee stated on Tuesday.

The cash paid to the FTC will probably be used to compensate drivers, the company stated.

The FTC stated Amazon in 2015 marketed {that a} program referred to as Flex would pay drivers $18 to $25 an hour to make deliveries and that they might obtain 100% of any ideas. However in late 2016 Amazon “secretly diminished its personal contribution to drivers’ pay,” in response to the FTC criticism.

“Amazon used the client tricks to make up the distinction between the brand new decrease hourly price and the promised price,” the FTC stated in a press release.

The FTC stated Amazon dropped the controversial fee mannequin in August 2019 after the company opened an investigation.

Amazon stated it disagreed that the way in which it reported pay to drivers was unclear.

“In whole, Amazon stole practically one-third of drivers’ tricks to pad its personal backside line,” Commissioner Rohit Chopra, a Democrat, stated in a press release.

He urged the FTC to look at whether or not staff must be protected against “different dominant middlemen.”

(Reporting by Diane Bartz, Enhancing by Marguerita Choy and Richard Chang)