Amazon sued for allegedly excluding D.C. zip codes from Prime delivery benefits

Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) has been sued by Washington, D.C.’s attorney general for secretly excluding around 48,000 customers in low-income neighborhoods from its high-speed delivery service Prime while continuing to charge them the full subscription price.

D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb alleged that Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) excluded Prime members in two zip codes (20019, 20020) east of the Anacostia River – “historically underserved communities” – from the fast delivery service since 2022.

The e-commerce giant instead has been servicing those zip codes with third-party delivery services like UPS (UPS) and the U.S. Postal Service, “which it knows are often slower than Amazon’s,” the lawsuit read.

It added that Amazon (AMZN) claims to have made “this secret change” in delivery options based on concerns over driver safety. But the company allegedly failed to be transparent about its decision.

“While Amazon (AMZN) has every right to make operational changes, it cannot covertly decide that a dollar in one zip code is worth less than a dollar in another,” said Schwalb. “We’re suing to stop this deceptive conduct and make sure District residents get what they’re paying for.”

“The claims made by the Attorney General, that our business practices are somehow discriminatory or deceptive, are categorically false,” Amazon (AMZN) spokesperson Kelly Nantel responded. “In the zip codes in question, there have been specific and targeted acts against drivers delivering Amazon packages. We made the deliberate choice to adjust our operations for the sole reason of protecting the safety of drivers.”

“And we’re always transparent with customers about when, exactly, they can expect their orders to arrive. What we’d like to do, and have offered, is to work together with the Attorney General in an effort to improve safety in these areas.”