FTC orders Grubhub to pa $23.8 million to diners and drivers

Grubhub diners and delivery drivers started receiving refund payments on Aug. 12, 2026. The Federal Trade Commission is sending 640,038 payments totaling more than $23.8 million, and most people will receive a paper check.

The money comes from a stipulated order entered on Dec. 31, 2024, resolving a case the FTC and Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul brought two weeks earlier in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

What is Grubhub?

Grubhub is one of the largest food delivery platforms in the country, operating in more than 2,400 U.S. cities under both the Grubhub and Seamless brands with more than 500,000 restaurants and more than 200,000 drivers.

The FTC complaint claimed the company deceived the three groups its platform depends on: diners, restaurants and drivers.

The allegations

Grubhub advertised a single low delivery charge then added undisclosed fees at checkout that often doubled the cost, the complaint alleged. One former executive reportedly called the tactic a "pricing shell game."

Grubhub+ subscribers paid many of those same fees despite the promise of free delivery, the FTC claimed. The filing also contended the company built roadblocks into cancellation.

Additionally, the FTC alleged Grubhub flagged accounts holding high gift card balances and blocked those diners from spending the money. An internal customer service document reportedly showed more than 97% of diners blocked during a single month in 2021 never regained access.

Recruiting ads also promised hourly earnings as high as $26 when the median Grubhub driver earned $11 an hour in 2023 and only the top 2% of drivers hit the advertised rate, the complaint claimed.

Finally, the lawsuit alleged Grubhub listed hundreds of thousands of businesses without their knowledge or consent. At one point, more than 320,000 of roughly 610,000 restaurants on the platform had no agreement with the company, the suit alleges. Many restaurants that demanded removal reportedly received a pitch for a paid partnership instead.

What Grubhub must change

The order permanently bars Grubhub from misrepresenting fees, delivery costs or driver earnings, requires the company to disclose every charge before checkout and prohibits listing a restaurant without its consent.

The cancellation method will now be as easy as signup, and subscribers will receive an annual reminder about their membership, according to the order. Diners with blocked accounts will receive notice, a way to dispute the block and access to their gift card money.

What happens next

The court entered a $140 million judgment but suspended most of it after Grubhub submitted sworn financial statements showing it could not pay, leaving $23.8 million for the FTC and $200,000 for the state of Illinois.

Eligible consumers do not need to file a claim. Individuals who received a check have 90 days to cash it, and PayPal recipients have 30 days to accept. Consumers who want to learn more details about the refunds can find additional details on the FTC Grubhub refund page.