The District Consumer Dispute Redressal Forum, Jodhpur, today levied a penalty of one lakh rupees on online food ordering and delivery platform Zomato and restaurant partner McDonald’s for claimed wrongful delivery of non-vegetarian food in place of a vegetarian food order.
Zomato said in a regulatory filing that it is in the process of filing an appeal against the order.
“The District Consumer Dispute Redressal Forum (II) Jodhpur has imposed a monetary penalty of Rs 1 lakh for violation of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 on Zomato and McDonald’s, the restaurant partner whose food was delivered through it, and awarded Rs 5,000 as cost of litigation”, the statement reads.
It went on to say, “Both monetary penalty and cost of litigation are to be borne jointly and severally by Zomato and McDonald”.
On top of that, Zomato stated that it is in the process of filing an appeal against the said order and based on the advice from its external counsels, Zomato believes it has a good case on merits.
“The current litigation pertains to an alleged wrongful delivery of non-vegetarian food items in place of vegetarian food items”, the statement continued.
The company further stated, “The terms of service that govern Zomato’s relationship with the customer clarify that Zomato is merely a facilitator for the sale of food and the restaurant partner is responsible for any deficiency in service, wrong delivery of order/order mismatch, and quality”.
“The order failed to appreciate the distinction in responsibility and imposed a joint and several monetary penalties on Zomato and McDonald’s under the relevant provisions of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019”, the company continued, adding that the order will have no material financial, operational or any other kind of impact on it.
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