Amazon To Refund $70 Million To Customers For In-App Purchases Made By Kids: Report

Amazon will have to refund $70 million to its U.S. users for illegally billing in-app purchases made by children between November 2011 and May 2016 as the company failed to provide enough information and safeguarding methods to their parents.

The company had been fighting the case against the verdict since a year, but, finally dropped its appeal Tuesday, the Verge reported.

Read: FTC Sues Amazon For Billing Parents Over Unauthorized In-App Purchases Made By Children

The Federal Trade Commission, which the company has been fighting over the matter stated Tuesday that the refund program would begin “shortly.” In November 2016, the company’s request to issue the refund in form of gift cards was rejected by a federal judge, according to Reuters. While Amazon hasn’t made any announcement about the refund procedure, the company is expected to either issue customers paper checks or refund the money directly to their cards.

“This case demonstrates what should be a bedrock principle for all companies — you must get customers’ consent before you charge them,” said Thomas B. Pahl, acting director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection.

A federal judge ruled in April 2016, agreeing with the FTC’s complaint that Amazon surprised consumers with charges, since it provided no prior information that games labeled “free” would actually allow in-app purchases to be made.

Read: How To Use Amazon Cash To Make Credit-Free Purchases

The company added disclosure and prompts on in-app purchases in June 2014, but it had been receiving complaints about such purchases from before that. Even after the company added small notices and password protection, the FTC said both were insufficient.

The FTC had filed a case against leading companies including, Apple and Google for the same reason. Apple had agreed to pay back $32 million, while Google had agreed to pay $19 million to app store and Google Play Store customers respectively, according to an earlier Verge report.