The Federal Trade Commission is sending more than $23.8 million to 640,038 drivers and diners across the country as redress in its case against Grubhub — money going out now by check and PayPal to people the agency says were harmed by the delivery company’s deceptive advertising and account practices.
What the money is for
The payments stem from a case the FTC and the Illinois Attorney General brought against Grubhub in December 2024. Regulators alleged the company overstated how much drivers could earn, listed restaurants on its platform without their consent, and blocked or deactivated accounts while leaving customers on the hook for funds. The $23.8 million now being distributed is consumer and worker redress tied to that settlement.
How it fits New York’s bigger delivery-pay fights
For New York readers, the Grubhub payout lands in the middle of a much larger reckoning over what app companies pay the people who drive and deliver for them. New York’s own actions dwarf it: the state and city have already forced hundreds of millions of dollars in driver settlements and back pay from the major platforms, including a landmark tips-and-pay case against the food-delivery apps. Against that backdrop, a $23.8 million federal redress is meaningful but modest — a reminder that most of the enforcement muscle on delivery pay has come from state and city regulators, not Washington.
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Recipients don’t need to do anything to claim the standard payments — the FTC is issuing them directly, and the agency publishes a redress breakdown for cases like this. Anyone who drove for or ordered from Grubhub in the relevant period and receives a check or PayPal payment from the FTC should cash or accept it promptly, and can verify any payment against the FTC’s official case page rather than trusting an unsolicited call or email claiming to represent the refund.
Source: Federal Trade Commission, “FTC Sends More than $23.8 Million to Drivers and Diners Harmed by Grubhub’s Deceptive Advertising Claims and Other Unlawful Conduct” (Aug 12, 2026). Figures are the FTC’s. New York settlement comparisons refer to prior state/city actions against food-delivery and rideshare platforms.
