Karnataka court orders Zomato to pay Rs 60,000 over undelivered momos
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The Karnataka Consumer Court has mandated food delivery service Zomato to compensate a Dharwad woman, Sheetal, Rs 60,000 for failing to deliver an order of momos placed last year.
The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission in Dharwad announced the decision on July 3.
The incident dates back to August 31, 2023, when Sheetal placed an order for mixed veg momos, paying Rs 133.25 via Google Pay. Despite receiving a confirmation message that her order had been delivered, no delivery agent arrived at her residence, nor did she receive her momos.
Upon inquiring with the restaurant, Sheetal learned that the delivery agent had collected the order. However, attempts to contact the delivery agent through the Zomato platform proved futile. Sheetal promptly emailed Zomato about the issue and was advised to wait for 72 hours for a resolution. Despite repeated efforts, she did not receive a satisfactory response.
Frustrated by the lack of action, Sheetal issued a legal notice to Zomato on September 13, 2023. During court proceedings, Zomato's counsel denied the allegations, labeling them as "false and created." However, the court noted that Zomato failed to respond within the promised 72-hour window, rendering their defense unreliable.
While Zomato refunded the Rs 133.25 to Sheetal on May 2, 2024, the court deemed the company’s service inadequate and acknowledged the mental stress and inconvenience caused to her.
The commission's release stated, "Zomato is carrying their business of supply of materials in response to the online orders placed by the customer. Despite receipt of the purchase money, Zomato did not deliver the required product to the complainant. By looking into these facts of the case on hand, in our opinion, Op no. 1 (Zomato) alone is liable to answer the claim of the complainant."
The court's president, Eshappa K Bhute, ordered Zomato to pay Rs 50,000 as compensation for the inconvenience and mental anguish caused to Sheetal, along with Rs 10,000 to cover her litigation costs.