June 30 (Reuters) - Australia's competition regulator said on Tuesday it has taken Amazon's Australian unit to court, alleging its Prime subscription contracts contained unfair terms that allowed the company to add advertising to its video streaming platform.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) alleged that between November 2023 and August 2025, Amazon Australia used unfair Prime Video contract terms to make negative changes for over 1 million annual subscribers without offering compensation.
"We allege that Amazon AU included multiple unfair terms in its contracts with Australian annual Prime subscribers, and it then relied on some of these terms to bring ads onto Amazon Prime Video," said ACCC Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb.
After July 2024, subscribers who wanted to maintain ad-free streaming had to pay an additional A$2.99 per month. This was despite annual subscribers already having paid A$79 ($54.40) upfront for the service, the ACCC added in its statement.
The regulator also alleged that Amazon.com Services LLC was knowingly concerned in the Australian unit's conduct, adding that the former was involved in drafting the Australian contracts that contained the terms.
The ACCC is seeking declarations, penalties, consumer redress, costs and other orders.
In an emailed response to Reuters, a spokesperson for Amazon Australia said the firm is "reviewing the case filed by the ACCC in detail" and had cooperated with the regulator throughout the investigation.
The ACCC investigated Amazon's local unit's contracts after receiving consumer reports about the introduction of ads to Prime Video in 2024, according to its statement.
($1 = 1.4522 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Shivangi Lahiri in Bengaluru, additional reporting by Kumar Tanishk; Editing by Maju Samuel and Vijay Kishore)
