Washington, D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb is suing Amazon, over allegations that the company "secretly excluded" more than 48,000 Prime subscribers living in two lower-income neighborhoods from its faster delivery services.

The lawsuit claims that starting in 2022, Amazon "made a secret internal decision" to stop providing expedited deliveries for Prime customers living in two "historically underserved" ZIP codes in D.C., instead opting to use slower last-mile delivery services such as UPS and the U.S. Postal Service. Schwalb further alleges that Amazon never informed the residents of either area that they had been excluded from Prime deliveries, and that when customers eventually complained about the slower delivery times, the e-commerce giant intentionally misled them to believe it was a coincidence.

“Amazon is charging tens of thousands of hard-working Ward 7 and 8 residents for an expedited delivery service it promises but does not provide," Schwalb said in a December 4 news release. "While Amazon 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."

Amazon's Prime subscription costs $14.99 a month, or $139 for a full year, and offers customers two-day, next-day and same-day deliveries for a vast array of products. Prior to Amazon's alleged "exclusion," more than 72% of Prime-eligible packages were delivered within two days to customers in the two neighborhoods highlighted in the lawsuit. A year after the exclusion was said to have taken effect, just 24-25% of Prime packages were delivered to those districts inside of two days. Meanwhile, the rate of two-day deliveries for the rest of D.C. increased from just under 60% in 2020 to 74% in 2023.

In a statement to The New York Times, Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel denied Schwalb's allegations, calling any claims of discriminatory or deceptive business practices "categorically false," while adding that Amazon also "must put the safety of delivery drivers first" when it comes to certain ZIP codes.