UK Competition Appeal Tribunal Certifies Class of Amazon Customers in £1.3B+ Antitrust Buy Box Case
'Achieving class certification in the UK is no easy hurdle, and often it is not yet readily granted in competition cases.'
'We are incredibly pleased with the Tribunal's decision in this matter and recognise how monumental this is for millions of Amazon customers in the UK who we believe have been forced to pay higher prices directly due to Amazon's actions,' said Steve Berman of Hagens Berman EMEA. 'Achieving class certification in the UK is no easy hurdle, and often it is not yet readily granted in competition cases.'
The 61-page 24 July 24 2025, judgment responds to two pending actions against Amazon, one from Hagens Berman EMEA's client, consumer advocate and class representative, Robert Hammond, and one from Professor Andreas Stephan represented separately seeking claims on behalf of more than 200,000 third-party retailers. Both however allege that Amazon uses its algorithm to rank search results in favor of products that are more profitable for the company in its online marketplace, causing millions of consumers to pay artificially inflated prices. Robert Hammond's case is valued in the billions of British pounds and comes backed with Hagens Berman's parent law firms' history, pedigree, and expertise of US antitrust litigation against Amazon.
With today's unanimous act of the CAT certifying the claim, they also certified Robert Hammond was suitable to act as the class representative, in his case against Amazon, on behalf of all British consumers on an opt-out basis, meaning class members will be automatically included as part of the case unless they choose to exclude themselves.
If you are domiciled within the UK and purchased a product on Amazon.com between October 2015 and June 7, 2023, find out your rights.
Hagens Berman EMEA is affiliated with Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP, a US based law firm currently pursuing 12 antitrust, price-fixing and price gouging allegations against Amazon. Robert Hammond is supported by a deep bench which also includes co-counsel Charles Lyndon Limited, Philip Moser KC and Ben Rayment, at Monckton Chambers, economic experts Fideres and Four World Capital who are the funders for the case.
'We look forward to continuing to fight for UK consumers and their right to demand transparency from Amazon,' said Sergei Purewal, Hagens Berman EMEA solicitor leading the case. 'While Amazon may believe it is too big to fail, we see that very mindset as evidence that it has abused its market dominance to the detriment of millions of its own UK consumers.'
About the Claim Against Amazon
According to the claim, filed on June 7, 2023, Amazon uses a proprietary algorithm to rank product offer results when consumers search for products in its Marketplace. The first-ranked item in the search results typically appears in the 'Buy Box,' allowing consumers to purchase the product with one click without choosing between competing sellers or retail offerings. By choosing the purchase option in the Buy Box, the consumer buys from whichever seller Amazon's algorithm determines to be the Buy Box winner.
According to the firms' investigation, overwhelmingly—about 80% of the time—consumers accept Amazon's recommendation and purchase through the Buy Box due to its efficient design. The claim alleges that the algorithm steers consumers towards product offerings that are more profitable for Amazon while obscuring other, often more affordable options, thus dampening price and quality competition among sellers and causing consumers to pay artificially inflated rates.
'The CMA considered that: the process of selection may unfairly favour products that are FBA [fulfilment by Amazon] over products that are FBM [fulfilment by merchant]. The CMA was concerned that any bias or discrimination in the selection process may reduce competition between sellers on the UK Amazon Marketplace and/or reduce the scale and competitiveness of fulfilment service providers that serve merchants on the UK Amazon Marketplace,' the CAT said in its judgment, citing concern that Amazon's actions may 'disadvantage merchants' and 'lead to higher prices for consumer by way of passing on of higher fulfilment costs.'
In discussing the two claims' experts' findings and claims the CAT wrote, 'In either case (or in reality some combination of the two) consumers who bought from sellers supplying FBA would have paid less for the same purchase by either buying from a lower priced alternative (FBM) supplier or from the same supplier at a lower price.'
Find out more about Hagens Berman EMEA's proposed collective action against Amazon regarding its Buy Box algorithm.
About Hagens Berman
Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP is a consumer-rights class-action law firm with nine offices across the U.S. Hagens Berman EMEA LLP is headquartered in London and regulated by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority. The firm's tenacious drive for plaintiffs' rights has earned it numerous accolades, awards and titles of 'Most Feared Plaintiff's Firm,' and MVPs and Trailblazers of class-action law. Hagens Berman's track record spans many practice areas, with record-breaking settlements and victories in the areas of automotive litigation, securities, consumer-rights cases, pension protection and more.
Some of the firm's highlights include State Tobacco Litigation ($206 billion settlement), Visa MasterCard ATM Antitrust Litigation ($27 billion settlement), Toyota Sudden, Unintended Acceleration ($1.6 billion settlement), E-books Antitrust Litigation ($560 million settlement), Enron Pension Protection Litigation ($250 million settlement), Charles Schwab Securities Litigation ($235 million settlement), NCAA Grant-in-Aid Scholarships Litigation ($208 million settlement), as well as many other record-setting achievements.
About Charles Lyndon
Charles Lyndon is a litigation firm based in London. Their specialist litigation lawyers are experienced in representing claimants in high profile claims before the Competition Appeal Tribunal. They have acted in a broad range of collective action and competition law cases and are at the forefront of the collective proceedings regime. In February 2019, Charles Lyndon brought the first stand-alone collective action in the Tribunal on behalf of millions of passengers who have paid twice for part of their train journeys.
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CNN
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A colonial hangover or a linguistic leg-up? India grapples with the enduring appeal of English
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Since India's independence from Britain in 1947, the status of English in India has been deeply political – entwined with questions of identity, power, and national direction. Today, English is one of several official languages in India, spoken by about 10% of the population. Hindi is the first language for around 44% of citizens, according to the 2011 census. But in recent years, Modi's BJP has placed particular emphasis on promoting Hindi and reducing the use of English in public life. The prime minister almost never delivers speeches in English, preferring Hindi for national addresses such as his monthly radio program. His administration has encouraged officials to use Hindi on social media and in government correspondence – though, after criticism from non-Hindi-speaking states, clarified that this was intended mainly for the Hindi belt in the north. When India hosted world leaders for the 2023 G20 summit in New Delhi, invitations were sent out from 'Bharat' – the Sanskrit or Hindi name for the country – instead of 'India,' fueling speculation that the government aims to ultimately phase out the country's English designation altogether. Modi's critics have been quick to note his political motives behind these moves. With its roots in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a right-wing organization that advocates Hindu hegemony within India, the BJP's language policies resonate with many in a country where nearly 80% of people are Hindu. Analysts say the BJP is seeking to capitalize on this demographic by promoting language policies that strengthen its support base in the north. According to Rita Kothari, an English professor from Ashoka University, the government 'is certainly interested in homogenizing the country and making Hindi more widespread.' 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UNESCO classes nearly 200 Indian languages as endangered, and more than 220 languages in the country have disappeared in the last 50 years, according to the People's Linguistic Survey of India. 'Many languages in India do not get the respect or place they deserve,' said Aloka Kujur, a writer and activist from Jharkhand, whose mother tongue is Kuduk, a tribal language native to the east Indian state. The proliferation of English, Kujur said, cost her community recognition in the country. Kuduk is spoken by just under 2 million people and is in a 'vulnerable' state, according to UNESCO. Kujur said that in Jharkand, indigenous groups 'have an affinity with their language that cannot be broken,' but notices that Kuduk's use in everyday life is slipping away. As India looks toward the future, analysts say the English language's role in the country might not be going anywhere any time soon. 'There is no fear of sidelining English,' Kothari, from Ashoka University, said. 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