Amazon is being sued by the District of Columbia's attorney general for allegedly excluding certain neighborhoods from Prime delivery.

• In Washington, D.C., Attorney General Brian Schwalb claimed that Amazon was secretly excluding two ZIP codes from expedited delivery.
• In 2022, Amazon halted the use of its own delivery vehicles in two Washington D.C. postal codes due to safety concerns.
• Despite paying the same subscription fee, more than 48,000 Prime members experienced slower delivery speeds than the rest of the district due to a decision made.

On Wednesday, Washington, D.C.'s attorney general filed a lawsuit against the company, alleging that it had secretly denied residents in specific ZIP codes in the city access to Prime's fast delivery service.

Since 2022, Amazon has allegedly excluded two historically underserved D.C. ZIP codes from its expedited delivery service, despite charging Prime members living there the full subscription price of $139 per year, which includes perks like two-day shipping and access to streaming content.

"According to Schwalb, Amazon is charging tens of thousands of hard-working Ward 7 and 8 residents for an expedited delivery service that it does not provide. While Amazon has the right to make operational changes, it cannot secretly decide that a dollar in one zip code is worth less than a dollar in another."

Amazon refutes Schwalb's accusations that its practices are discriminatory or deceptive, as stated by Amazon spokesperson Steve Kelly.

"Our priority is to deliver as quickly as possible to every zip code in the country, but we must prioritize the safety of our delivery drivers," Kelly stated. "In certain zip codes, there have been targeted attacks against Amazon package delivery drivers. As a result, we have made the decision to modify our operations, including delivery routes and times, to ensure the safety of our drivers."

Kelly stated that Amazon is willing to collaborate with the AG's office to decrease crime and enhance safety in those regions.

In June 2022, Amazon allegedly stopped using its own delivery trucks to deliver packages in the ZIP codes 20019 and 20020 due to safety concerns, the lawsuit claims. Instead of relying on its in-house delivery network, the company turned to outside carriers such as FedEx and the U.S. Postal Service to make deliveries, according to the complaint, which was filed in D.C. Superior Court.

Despite paying the same membership price for Prime, residents in certain ZIP codes experienced significantly longer delivery times than their neighbors in other District ZIP codes.

According to AG data, before Amazon implemented the change, over 72% of Prime packages in the two ZIP codes were delivered within two days of checkout. However, this number decreased to 24% after the change, while the two-day delivery rate across the district rose to 74%.

Amazon has faced criticism for disparities in its Prime program, particularly with regards to same-day delivery eligibility. In 2016, the company announced plans to expand access to same-day delivery in cities including Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, and Washington, following a Bloomberg investigation that found Black residents were "significantly less likely" to be eligible for same-day delivery as white residents.

According to the 2022 Census data from the American Community Survey, the ZIP codes mentioned in Schwalb's complaint are located in areas with significant Black populations.

In June 2023, the Federal Trade Commission accused Amazon of misleading consumers into signing up for Prime and hindering their efforts to cancel by using dark patterns, which are deceptive design tactics intended to influence users' choices. Amazon denied the allegations, stating that the complaint was unfounded. The trial is scheduled for June 2025.

Scwalb's complaint alleges that Amazon failed to inform Prime members in the area about the delivery exclusion. When consumers in the affected ZIP codes complained about slower delivery speeds, Amazon attributed the issue to circumstances beyond its control, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit alleges that Amazon has breached the district's consumer protection statutes and seeks to halt its misleading behavior, in addition to requesting compensation and fines.

Amazon employs a variety of methods to deliver packages to customers, including its own contracted delivery companies, recognizable by Amazon-branded cargo vans, as well as carriers like USPS, UPS, and a network of gig workers who make deliveries from their own vehicles through the Flex program.

Recently, Amazon has expanded its in-house logistics force to accelerate delivery times from two days to one day or even a few hours. In July, the company announced its "fastest Prime delivery speeds ever" in the first half of the year, delivering over 5 billion items within a day.

Amazon has taken on more control over its delivery operations by relying on its own workforce.

Amazon has an internal policy that allows it to exclude certain areas from its in-house delivery network if a driver experiences "violence, intimidation or harassment." In these excluded areas, Amazon relies on UPS or USPS to deliver packages.

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