Fair Money & Economic Opportunity

Avis Budget Group faces significant issues regarding pricing fairness and fee transparency. Lawsuits allege that Payless, an Avis Budget brand, improperly charged renters for ancillary services without clear disclosure.

Other lawsuits claim 'junk fees' and 'drip pricing' where mandatory fees are added late in the transaction process, increasing the total cost by over 10% compared to advertised prices, and sometimes 50-100% above the advertised price. A $19 million settlement was reached to resolve a class-action lawsuit concerning these practices, with Payless agreeing to update its sales process to require affirmative consent for add-on products. The company's revenue growth strategies are highlighted as relying heavily on add-ons without clear disclosure or opt-in consent. While the company provides competitive retirement plans with educational tools and access to financial advisors for employees, there is no direct impact on customer credit or savings outcomes. The Avis Car Rental app offers a convenient way to control rental elements without visiting a counter, but overall product simplicity is impacted by alleged hidden fees and unclear disclosures.

Fair Pay & Worker Respect

Avis Budget Group's CEO to median employee pay ratio was 165:1 in 2024, based on the CEO's total compensation of $6,922,790 and a median employee pay of $41,901.

The company has incurred $11,407,194 in employment-related penalties and $375,158 in safety-related penalties since 2000. Specific primary offense types include $8,117,254 for wage and hour violations, $2,699,440 for employment screening violations, and $572,500 for labor relations violations. The company has faced numerous penalties for these violations between 2003 and 2024. Additionally, a collective bargaining agreement ratified in August 2024 for 800 employees at the LAX CONRAC facility has seen contract violations, including withheld raises and unjustified wage deductions tied to medical benefits.

Honest & Fair Business

In the past three years (2023-2025), Avis Budget Group incurred approximately $79.2 million in ethics-related regulatory fines, primarily for consumer protection violations.

The company has a confidential Integrity Hotline accessible 24/7 for reporting ethics and compliance concerns, and a non-retaliation policy protects employees who report concerns. All reported concerns are investigated, and the Board receives annual updates on these reports. The company reported no financial restatements in 2024. While 100% of the Audit, Compensation, and Corporate Governance Committee members are independent, the overall percentage of board members free from material conflicts of interest is not specified. Avis Budget Group has an Anti-Corruption Policy that prohibits all forms of corruption and bribery, supporting compliance with the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the U.K. Bribery Act, with annual training for managers and above. The 2024 ESG Report and CDP Climate Change Questionnaire received limited assurance from ERM CVS for selected information, including GHG emissions data.

Kind to Animals

Avis Budget Group, a vehicle rental service company, has a 'No Animal Testing' policy.

This indicates that no animals are used in any testing protocols, leading to a score of 100 for both animal testing policy and volume. The company's core business model does not involve products requiring cruelty-free certification, animal-derived ingredients, animal husbandry, or direct impact on wildlife habitats, making most other animal welfare KPIs not applicable.

No War, No Weapons

Avis Budget Group, Inc. operates as a vehicle rental service provider.

No evidence suggests the company derives revenue from arms or defense contracts, nor does it have any defense-related business activities or assets to divest. There is no indication of exposure to controversial or banned weapons, aligning with its core business model as a vehicle rental company.

Planet-Friendly Business

Avis Budget Group reported total Scope 1, 2, and partial Scope 3 emissions of 6,402,552 metric tons CO2e in 2023.

The company acknowledges that significant Scope 3 categories, such as purchased goods and services and upstream transportation, are not yet calculated. A 30% absolute reduction target for Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions from a 2018 base year by 2030 is in place and considered 2°C aligned, but it is not explicitly stated as SBTi-validated. The company has a net-zero target year of 2050. In 2023, 45,000 metric tons of CO2e were offset for corporate customers using Gold Standard Carbon Credits. The company reported no material instances of non-compliance with environmental laws and regulations in 2023. In 2023, 594.86 megaliters of water were withdrawn from stressed basins, representing approximately 47.4% of total water withdrawals. The company reported 1,255.27 megaliters of total water withdrawals in 2023 against $12 billion revenue, which translates to 104.6 m³ per $1M revenue. The company has 19 LEED-certified or LEED-designed locations in the U.S. and its Paris Headquarters is a BREEAM Outstanding Building. For waste, zero waste-to-landfill was maintained for tires, windshields, motor oils, and car batteries in the U.S. in 2022. The company has partial TCFD mapping but lacks scenario analysis.

Respect for Cultures & Communities

The provided article explicitly states that it does not contain any quantitative data relevant to the specified metrics for Avis Budget Group, Inc. regarding Respect for Cultures & Communities.

No information is available on partnerships, revenue reinvestment, cultural incidents, impact assessments, employment ratios, grievance mechanisms, FPIC participation, community governance, cultural preservation, procurement, supplier diversity, cultural site protection, social license, charitable giving, community funds, language inclusivity, incident response, or cultural training.

Safe & Smart Tech

Avis Budget Group experienced a data breach between August 3-6, 2024, affecting nearly 300,000 users.

Compromised data included names, addresses, credit card numbers, and driver's license numbers. The company offered one year of complimentary credit monitoring and notified state Attorney General's offices. The company's data privacy and information security programs align with ISO 27001 controls and the NIST framework, and 100% of its operational sites are PCI compliant. Mandatory data privacy and information security training programs are in place for all employees handling personal information, including regular awareness campaigns and phishing avoidance training. The company's incident response process is based on NIST 800-61 and is tested at least annually. While firewalls and encryption are mentioned as technical measures, the extent of encryption across all data is not specified. The company states it minimizes the use of personally identifiable information and regularly destroys data no longer needed. It also restricts data access based on the principle of least privilege. The company conducts annual external third-party and internal audits of IT controls, along with penetration testing and vulnerability assessments. However, the breach involved unauthorized access to a commercial application, indicating a vulnerability was exploited. Users have some control over their data, such as opting out of marketing and adjusting location sharing, but the privacy notice requires users to notify customer service of suspected unauthorized use or security breaches, placing some burden on the user. The company mentions compliance with various privacy regulations like GDPR and CCPA, and notified state Attorney General's offices regarding the breach. MFA is available for 20-35% of services, including mobile apps for biometric login.

Zero Waste & Sustainable Products

Avis Budget Group achieved zero landfill waste for tyres, windscreens, motor oils, and car batteries in the US in 2022.

In 2022, the company recycled/repurposed 72,741 gallons of used motor oil, 903,361 car batteries, and 357,505 tires. Additionally, 27,840 windscreens were repaired and 72,741 were recycled in 2022. The company reported no material instances of non-compliance with environmental laws and regulations in 2022. Its environmental policy statement commits to responsible handling and disposal of regulated waste in compliance with regulations and best practices.