Overview
- The Bundesgerichtshof ruled on October 1, 2026 that the clause Amazon used to raise Prime prices in 2022 violated the legal transparency requirement because it did not clearly tell customers what rights they had when prices rose.
- Amazon said it will temporarily reinstate the pre‑2022 fees for customers whose Prime subscriptions began before September 15, 2022 and have not been changed since, with the reduced rate applied from the next billing date.
- Refunds for past overcharges in Germany will not be paid automatically and must be sought either through individual claims or by joining a collective action filed by Verbraucherzentrale NRW that is pending at the Oberlandesgericht Hamm; registration in the federal claim register is open.
- U.S. developments differ: under a 2025 FTC settlement Amazon is already making automatic refunds and penalty payments totaling billions of dollars to eligible U.S. Prime customers, with payouts beginning October 2026 and further rounds scheduled through April 2027.
- Consumers affected should check their payment history and either register for the Sammelklage or submit individual claims to preserve rights because eligibility depends on contract date, uninterrupted membership, and in many cases statutory time limits that can limit recoverable years; the annual difference is €20.90 and the monthly difference is €1.00.