The District Consumer Dispute Redressal Forum in Jodhpur has jointly fined online food delivery service Zomato and fast food chain McDonald's Rs.1 lakh for delivering the wrong food, a non-veg dish instead of veg dish order, to the customer.
The consumer has received a ₹5,000 reward to cover their legal fees. Zomato and McDonald's will have to bear the cost equally, the cost of the monetary penalty as well as the legal fees.
According to news agency PTI, the District Consumer Dispute Redressal Forum (II) Jodhpur fined Zomato and McDonald's, the restaurant partner whose food was delivered through it, ₹1 lakh for violating the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 and granted 5,000 as cost of litigation.
"Both monetary penalty and cost of litigation are to be borne jointly and severally by Zomato and McDonald's," it added.
The customer in dispute placed an order at McDonald's. They ordered the food from Zomato and after the delivery customer discovered they had received a non-vegetarian delivery instead of a vegetarian.
Meanwhile, Zomato said 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."
According to Zomato's filing, their terms of service state that the meal delivery platform is only an intermediary for the sale of food and that the restaurant partner is in charge of any issues with service, wrong order delivery or order mismatch, and quality.
The company stated, "The order failed to appreciate the distinction in responsibility and imposed a joint and several monetary penalty on Zomato and McDonald's under the relevant provisions of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019," adding that the order has no material financial, operational or any other kind of impact on it.
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