Australia’s consumer watchdog has taken legal action against Amazon. The case focuses on ads added to Prime Video and whether the company treated customers unfairly. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, also known as the ACCC, says Amazon used unfair contract terms with more than one million Australian subscribers. These contracts were active between November 2023 and August 2025.
The ACCC claims that the introduction of ads to Prime Video put customers in a difficult position. People who wanted to continue watching without advertisements had to pay extra money each month. ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb stated that many subscribers found themselves with limited options. They either had to accept ads or pay more to keep the ad-free service they originally signed up for.
Amazon has responded by saying it is carefully reviewing the lawsuit. A company spokesperson said Amazon worked with the ACCC during its investigation. The company also stated its commitment to serving Australian customers. Prime Video had been ad-free for many years. It came as part of Amazon Prime, a subscription mainly known for delivery benefits and extra digital services.
Amazon launched Prime in Australia in 2018. In early 2024, the company started adding advertisements to Prime Video in several countries, including Australia. When this change happened, Australian users were told they would need to pay an additional monthly fee to remove ads. This increased the total subscription cost to 12.99 Australian dollars per month.
The ACCC says more than 850,000 Australians had already paid for yearly Prime subscriptions before the ad change happened. These users had prepaid for a service that originally did not include advertisements. The regulator argues that those customers received a lower-quality service during the rest of their subscription unless they paid extra.
The ACCC also claims Amazon relied on five contract terms that allowed the company to make major service changes on its own. These terms allegedly gave customers no clear right to refunds or compensation.
Amazon has faced similar criticism before. In the United States, the Federal Trade Commission has accused the company of making Prime subscriptions difficult to cancel. Officials in the UK have also investigated Amazon regarding phoney online reviews and product listings.
