Zomato, Pune Eatery Fined Rs 55,000 For Delivering Butter Chicken Instead Of Paneer Not Once, But Twice To Same Customer

In a rare judgement, the Consumer Court in Pune, Maharashtra has ordered app-based food delivery service Zomato and a city-based restaurant to pay Rs 55,000 to a customer after he was wrongly delivered a chicken dish instead of the paneer dish he had ordered.

The complainant, Shanmukh Deshmukh, a Nagpur-based lawyer, in his complaint has alleged that on May 31 he had ordered butter paneer masala from Hotel Preet Punjabi Swad through Zomato.

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But, only while eating Deshmukh realized that he was served chicken instead of paneer. He claimed that since the gravy of both the dishes looks alike, he didn¡¯t realize that it was a non-vegetarian dish.

After realizing that it was chicken, he informed the restored which promised Deshmukh that it will replace his order.

As promised, Hotel Preet Punjabi Swad delivered another parcel to Deshmukh which, to his shock once again turned out to be butter chicken.

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Deshmukh filed a complaint against Zomato and the hotel claiming that his religious sentiments were hurt by their actions and demanded a compensation of Rs 5 lakh and Rs 1 lakh for harassment.

In the court, Zomato argued that it was not at fault and it was the mistake of the hotel which supplied the wrong dish. They also argued that Deshmukh had complained against the food delivery platform to defame it as it had refunded his amount. The restaurant, however, admitted its mistake.

Zomato and the hotel were directed to pay Rs 50,000 for deficiency in service and the remaining amount for mental harassment.