Instacart settles Federal Trade Commission’s claim it deceived US shoppers

The FTC had accused the grocery delivery giant of charging fees to consumers after promising ‘free delivery’.Published On 18 Dec 2025Instacart has agreed to pay $60m in refunds to settle allegations brought by the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that the online grocery delivery platform deceived consumers about its membership programme and free delivery offers.According to court documents filed in San Francisco on Thursday, Instacart’s offer of “free delivery” for first orders was illusory because shoppers were charged other fees, the FTC alleged.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4EU summit on knife-edge over plan to fund Ukraine using Russian assetslist 2 of 4Egypt says gas deal with Israel is ‘purely commercial’list 3 of 4BP taps Woodside’s Meg O’Neill as CEO as it pivots back to fossil fuelslist 4 of 4Trump Media to merge with nuclear fusion company to power AIend of listThe agency also accused Instacart of failing to adequately notify shoppers that their free trials of its Instacart+ subscription service would convert to paid memberships and of misleading consumers about its refund policy.“The FTC is focused on monitoring online delivery services to ensure that competitors are transparently competing on price and delivery terms,” said Christopher Mufarrige, who leads the FTC’s consumer protection work.An Instacart spokesperson said the company flatly denies any allegations of wrongdoing, but that the settlement allows the company to focus on shoppers and retailers.“We provide straightforward marketing, transparent pricing and fees, clear terms, easy cancellation, and generous refund policies — all in full compliance with the law and exceeding industry norms,” the spokesperson said.The shopping platform is currently under scrutiny after a recent study by nonprofit groups found that individual shoppers simultaneously received different prices for the same items at the same stores.The FTC is investigating the company and has demanded information about Instacart’s Eversight pricing tool, the news agency Reuters reported on Wednesday.