Story perspectives

FTC Opens Investigation Into Instacart Over Pricing Discrepancies

By Drooid · Sep 29, 2026, 3:08 PM UTC · How we work

Summary

Story summary

The Federal Trade Commission opened an investigation into Instacart after Lindsay Owens’ critique.
Owens’ study found about 75 percent of identical Instacart basket items were priced differently for shoppers.
Uber’s 2022 upfront-pricing raised its U.S. driver take rate from 32 percent to 42 percent by 2024.
Companies use zip codes to charge Black consumers more for car insurance, rideshare, and rentals.

History

Historical Context

After a 2022 probe of pharmacy-benefit managers that oversee about 80 % of U.S. prescriptions and a March 2024 report linking grocery profit margins to inflation, the FTC has repeatedly challenged opaque pricing, including a 2023 demand to OpenAI over algorithmic data use. The Instacart investigation, sparked by a study showing a large price gap, extends this consumer-protection push into gig-economy platforms.

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Story summary

The Federal Trade Commission opened an investigation into Instacart after Lindsay Owens’ critique.
Owens’ study found about 75 percent of identical Instacart basket items were priced differently for shoppers.
Uber’s 2022 upfront-pricing raised its U.S. driver take rate from 32 percent to 42 percent by 2024.
Companies use zip codes to charge Black consumers more for car insurance, rideshare, and rentals.

1 / 2