Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: As large parts of India prepare for the onset of Navaratri on Sunday and observe fast or stick to vegetarian food, a consumer court has imposed a fine of Rs. One lakh on online food ordering and delivering platform Zomato and its restaurant partner McDonald’s for allegedly delivering non-vegetarian food to a vegetarian customer.
Zomato said on Friday 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 District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum (II), Jodhpur, imposed the fine on Zomato and McDonald’s for alleged wrongful delivery of non-vegetarian food in place of a vegetarian food order, according to media reports on Friday.
The Forum also awarded Rs 5,000 as the cost of litigation to the customer.
“Both monetary penalty and cost of litigation are to be borne jointly and severally by Zomato and McDonald’s,” it added.
“The current litigation pertains to an alleged wrongful delivery of non-vegetarian food items in place of vegetarian food items,” the company said.
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, it added.
“The (consumer) court 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 said, adding that the order has no material financial, operational or any other kind of impact on it.