A Pune consumer court directed Zomato, a food delivery platform, to pay a fine of Rs. 55,000 for delivering the wrong food item to a customer.
The matter came to light on the 6th of July, after a consumer court of Pune fined Zomato for delivering chicken instead of paneer.
Shanmukh Deshmukh, the complainant, ordered paneer butter masala from Preet Punjabi Swad hotel in Pune. Instead, he got a parcel of butter chicken and complained regarding the same to Zomato.
When he was told the Zomato delivery executives do not play any role in preparing the food items and only deliver the food, Deshmukh contacted the hotel and placed an order again.
Even for the second order, Shanmukh Deshmukh got a parcel of butter chicken instead of paneer butter masala.
Deshmukh, whose religious sentiments were hurt, said, “Since the curries of both dishes look alike, I didn’t realise it was a chicken dish and ate it.”
Later, he issued a legal notice to both Zomato and the hotel but did not get any response, following which, he knocked on the door of the consumer court and complained.
However, Zomato denied the allegations and said, the lawyer complained against the food delivery platform to defame it even though they refunded the money to Mr. Deshmukh.
Zomato also defended itself, saying the mistake was made by the hotel and not the delivery platform.
The consumer court found both the hotel and Zomato guilty and charged them a fine of Rs. 55,000, out of which Rs. 50,000 will be for deficiency in service, whereas the remaining Rs. 5,000 is for mental harassment.
The hotel and Zomato need to pay the fine within 45 days from the issuance of the order.
Stay tuned for further updates.