Zomato: Chandigarh restaurant penalised with Rs 42,000 for wrongly delivering non-veg food

Zomato: Chandigarh restaurant penalised with Rs 42,000 for wrongly delivering non-veg food

The complainant alleged that he ordered vegetarian food, but instead of receiving that, the restaurant sent non-vegetarian items, “which destroyed the moral code” of his “pure-vegetarian” family.

The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission of Chandigarh has penalised a restaurant in Chandigarh of Rs 42,000 for reportedly delivering non-veg food to a city resident, who had ordered vegetarian food.

The complainant, Sudeep Goel, alleged that he had placed an order on November 13, 2021 through food delivery application, Zomato, and paid Rs 2,149.35. The sole grouse of Goel is that he ordered vegetarian food, but instead of receiving that, the restaurant (Kalsang Restaurant) sent non-vegetarian items, “which destroyed the moral code” of his “pure-vegetarian” family. Thereafter, the complainant repeatedly requested the restaurant for sending an apology in written and to compensate, but to no avail. He thus filed a complaint at the consumer commission.

Kalsang Restaurant did not appear to contest the claim of the complainant and preferred to proceed against ex-parte.

Zomato, in its reply, submitted that it is mere a platform to get the food orders done and delivered. Hence, it cannot be held liable/ responsible for the acts/ conducts/ omissions on the part of the restaurant as the preparation as well as the packing of food was done by the restaurant itself.

After going through the evidence on record, the commission held that “it is abundantly clear that the wrong food packet was sent at the place of the complainant which was consumed by his family. The consumption of non-vegetarian food by mistake was shocking and certainly the family members of the complainant were hurt as their religious sentiments were shaken”.

It further said that despite admitting its fault the restaurant neither settled the matter with the complainant nor stood present during the proceedings of the present case.

“In our opinion, this is the adamant attitude of the restaurant only which forced the complainant to indulge in the present unnecessary litigation. Hence, the act of Kalsang Restaurant for not providing proper services pertinently, not appearing during the proceedings of the present case proves deficiency in services on its part and its indulgence in unfair trade practice,” the Commission said.

It thus ordered the to refund amount of Rs 2,149.35 the bill amount paid by the complainant, and to pay an amount of Rs 15,000 to the complainant as compensation and to pay Rs 5,000 as costs of litigation.

The commission also asked the restaurant to pay another Rs 20,000 which shall be deposited by it with the Poor Patient Welfare Fund, PGIMER, Chandigarh.