Amazon has reinstated a provision in its customer terms designed to restrict shoppers from pursuing class-action lawsuits against the online retail giant, reversing a change made five years ago.

Customers were informed of the updated conditions in an email on Friday. The new terms include an arbitration agreement and class-action waiver requiring most disputes to be handled outside the traditional court system.

Shoppers will retain the option of taking eligible disputes to small claims court, where potential compensation is generally limited to relatively modest amounts.

An Amazon spokesperson said the company regularly reviews its conditions of use and believes arbitration could provide customers with a faster and more affordable way of resolving disputes. Customers will still have access to small claims proceedings where appropriate.

The move marks a reversal from 2021, when Amazon removed a comparable arbitration requirement following a wave of privacy-related legal challenges involving its Alexa voice assistant.

Since then, the company has faced a range of class-action proceedings, including allegations concerning potentially unsafe products and claims that its processes made cancelling Prime subscriptions unnecessarily difficult.

However, adding the provision to Amazon’s customer agreement does not guarantee that it will prevent future class actions. Lawyers representing consumers could still attempt to bring collective proceedings against the company.

If challenged, a court would ultimately need to decide whether Amazon’s updated terms are enforceable and whether the arbitration provision can legally prevent customers from pursuing claims as part of a class action.