Karnataka’s consumer court has ordered Zomato to pay ₹60,000 to a woman from Dharwad for failing to deliver the momos she ordered.
The commission’s president, Eshappa Bhute, directed the food delivery company to compensate the woman with ₹50,000 for inconvenience and mental anguish, plus an additional ₹10,000 for case expenses.
On August 31, 2023, Sheetal ordered momos through Zomato and paid ₹133.25 via Google Pay. About 15 minutes after placing the order, she received a notification stating that the order had been delivered. However, she did not receive the order, and no delivery person visited her home. When she inquired with the restaurant, she was informed that the delivery person had taken the order from them.
Sheetal attempted to contact the delivery agent through the website but received no response. She then filed a complaint via email to Zomato but received no reply after 72 hours. Following this, she sent a legal notice to Zomato in September 2023. Zomato’s legal team denied the allegations, claiming that Sheetal was lying.
However, in court, when Sheetal presented evidence, it was proven that Zomato had requested 72 hours to respond to her complaint but failed to do so afterward. This led to doubts about the company’s claims. Later, on May 18 of this year, Sheetal stated that Zomato refunded her ₹133.25 on May 2. The commission noted that this refund indicated Zomato’s mistake had caused significant difficulty and mental harassment to the woman. The commission emphasized, “Zomato is in the business of delivering online orders placed by customers.”
