The Federal Trade Commission is beginning to distribute money from Grubhub’s $23.8 million settlement, according to TechCrunch. The payments are going to 640,038 consumers, described by TechCrunch as Grubhub drivers and customers, with most recipients receiving checks by mail and some receiving funds through PayPal. The distribution follows a lawsuit filed in December 2024 by the FTC and the Illinois Attorney General. TechCrunch reports that the complaint accused Grubhub of several unlawful practices, including allegedly misleading workers about potential earnings, restricting customers’ access to their accounts and money, and listing restaurants on its platform without permission. One of the more concrete allegations concerned the size and composition of Grubhub’s restaurant marketplace. According to TechCrunch’s summary of the complaint, Grubhub had as many as 325,000 restaurants on the platform that were not affiliated with the company. The FTC alleged those listings helped make the platform appear larger. The complaint also alleged that Grubhub sometimes declined to remove restaurants after they asked to be taken off the service. TechCrunch reports that, in some cases, the company allegedly tried to persuade those restaurants to enter paid partnerships instead. The settlement is not only a cash distribution. TechCrunch reports that Grubhub must change several operating practices: it must be more accurate when advertising potential driver earnings, give customers a way to challenge account restrictions that block access to accounts or funds, and obtain consent from restaurants before listing them on the platform. For Grubhub, the FTC payout lands amid additional legal scrutiny. TechCrunch notes that a federal judge last month granted final approval of another settlement worth nearly $25 million involving about 60,000 Grubhub delivery drivers in California. The provided report does not establish whether that California settlement is connected to the FTC case, only that it is another recent settlement involving the company’s driver operations. The case fits a broader regulatory focus on delivery-platform practices, but the clearest facts here are specific to Grubhub: how it represented driver earnings, how it handled customer access to funds, and how it populated its restaurant marketplace. The FTC distribution moves the case from settlement terms to actual payments for affected users. Who benefits: Eligible Grubhub diners and drivers benefit directly from the $23.8 million distribution. Restaurants also benefit from settlement terms that require consent before listing, according to TechCrunch’s account of the settlement. Who's exposed: Delivery platforms with similar marketplace, driver-pay, or account-restriction practices face higher scrutiny. Grubhub remains exposed to reputational and operational consequences from the FTC case and other driver-related settlements reported by TechCrunch.