Zomato, McDonald’s Fined For Wrongly Delivering Non-Veg Food

Zomato and fast food chain McDonald’s have been slapped with an INR 1 Lakh fine by the District Consumer Dispute Redressal Forum (II) Jodhpur for an alleged wrongful delivery of non-vegetarian food items on a vegetarian order.

In an exchange filing, Zomato said that the Forum also awarded INR 5,000 to the customer who filed the plea as the cost of litigation. The monetary penalty and cost of litigation are to be borne jointly and severally by Zomato and McDonald’s.

However, Zomato said it is in the process of filing an appeal against the fine and believes it has a case based on merits.

According to the listed footech giant, its terms of service, which govern its 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. 

“The order failed to appreciate the distinction in responsibility and imposed a joint and several monetary penalty on Zomato and McDonald’s under the relevant provisions of Consumer Protection Act, 2019,” the company added.

A similar incident earlier this month saw a Lucknow eatery being booked along with a Swiggy delivery driver who allegedly delivered a non-vegetarian food item in place of a vegetarian food item that was ordered. Zomato also saw another such case of a wrong delivery in March this year which sparked widespread social media outrage.

Meanwhile, Zomato has entered the logistics business with the launch of its Zomato Xtreme app. 

“Xtreme simplifies the entire delivery process, making it easy for merchants to send packages to their valued customers. Whether you’re a small shop or a large retailer, we’ve got you covered,” the app’s home page says. Cost of package deliveries start at INR 35.

The development comes at a time when shares of Zomato hit new 52-week high in multiple sessions this week. Recently, ICICI Securities increased its price target on Zomato to INR 160 from INR 120 earlier, implying an upside of almost 47%. 

Shares of Zomato ended Friday’s session over 1% higher at INR 111.30 on the BSE.

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