Amazon to pay $8.25 million settlement in Washington D.C. delivery exclusion case

Amazon.com Inc. has agreed to pay $8.25 million to Washington, D.C., to settle a lawsuit alleging the e-commerce company charged residents in two D.C. ZIP codes full Prime membership fees while failing to provide them with fast delivery services. Under a signed consent order filed Thursday in D.C. Superior Court, $7.25 million of the settlement will fund refunds for Prime members in the ZIP codes corresponding to Wards 7 and 8, with the remaining $1 million serving as a civil penalty paid by the company to the District. In addition to the financial compensation, the settlement requires Amazon to give affected consumers 60 days' notice if it restricts its own deliveries to a ZIP code for safety reasons.