Hyderabad: The Rangareddy consumer commission ordered a food delivery app and a restaurant to pay Rs 50,000 in penalties for delivering non-vegetarian food and non-consensually violating 29 years of the complainant’s religious sanctity. The judgment comes as part of a ruling protecting the food rights of vegetarians.
The commission instructed Big Bowl Chinese restaurant and food delivery platform Zomato to pay the penalties for delivering non-vegetarian food instead of a vegetarian dish to a customer.
The case was filed by the complainant, who ordered a “Big Bowl Special Chopsuey” labelled as vegetarian on the app’s menu from Big Bowl Chinese restaurant in Kondapur. The incident occurred when the complainant initially received an incomplete dish, which was later replaced following his complaint. However, after consuming the replacement dish, the complainant discovered it was non-vegetarian, violating his religious beliefs.
The commission found both parties guilty of deficiency in service. While Zomato claimed to be merely an intermediary platform, the commission noted that they had already refunded the order amount, implicitly acknowledging the error. Evidence presented included recorded conversations where both parties admitted their mistake and apologised to the complainant. The restaurant remained ex-parte in the proceedings after failing to respond to court notices.
The commission ordered both parties to pay Rs 5,000 each as compensation to the complainant, Rs 5,000 each towards litigation costs, and Rs 15,000 each as punitive damages to the Consumer Welfare Fund. It also directed them to implement stringent procedures to prevent similar incidents in the future. The original complaint sought Rs 20 lakh in damages, but the commission awarded a more modest compensation. The total compensation amounts to Rs 20,000, with an additional Rs 30,000 in punitive damages.
Both parties have been ordered to comply with the ruling by April 2025, failing which they will be required to pay double the awarded compensation.