Walmart (WMT) has agreed to pay $100M to settle charges with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission over deceptive practices tied to its Spark Driver delivery service.
The FTC and 11 states accused the retail giant of misleading Spark delivery drivers as to the amount of money they would receive for deliveries, including tips, misrepresenting incentive pay drivers would receive for completing certain tasks, and deceiving customers that 100% of tips go directly to the driver.
The FTC claimed that these practices violated the FTC Act and the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act—by obtaining drivers’ bank and other financial information while deceiving them about the amount of base pay and tips they will earn from Spark Driver deliveries—as well as laws of the agency’s state partners.
In addition to a $100M settlement, Walmart (WMT) is required to ensure drivers are paid the promised earnings and tips; prohibited from modifying an order for base pay, incentive pay, or tips after the initial order is placed unless undelivered or canceled by a customer; and banned from misrepresenting the earnings information included in the delivery order.