Amazon to refund $70 mn for unauthorised in-app purchases

Amazon has decided to refund up to $70 million to its users, a move that comes a year after the company was found guilty of illegally billing users for unauthorised in-app purchases.

The in-app charges occurred from purchases made by kids when playing with freemium apps.

A US federal court in 2016 ruled that Amazon had failed to "clearly inform parents that free apps may still include in-app purchases, and did not provide enough notice and password requirements to prevent unwanted charges."

According to a report in Verge on Tuesday, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) estimated that parents were charged upwards of $70 million between November 2011 and May 2016.

According to the FTC, Amazon will begin is refund programme "shortly".

In November 2016, Amazon had requested a US district court that it would make refunds in form of gift cards, but the request was rejected.

It is, therefore, expected that the company will refund affected customers money back directly to their debit or credit card, or through paper checks.