A consumer filed a complaint with the Bengaluru Consumer Court after Swiggy failed to deliver ₹187 of ice cream. Court orders food delivery giant to pay ₹5000 fee.
A consumer court in Bengaluru recently ordered food-tech platform Swiggy to compensate a customer for failing to serve an ice cream he requested in 2023. According to reports, the meal delivery service has been ordered to pay Rs. 3,000 as compensation, in addition to Rs. 2,000 in legal fees.
The Bangalore Urban II Additional District Consumer Redressal Commission also ordered the platform to reimburse Rs. 187, the amount of ice cream paid by the customer when placing the transaction.
Swiggy attempted to transfer blame to the delivery agency, claiming that it could not be held liable for the alleged error of its agent because the company was only acting as a mediator between the client and the restaurant.
The Court rejected Swiggy's allegations, saying that failing to refund the payment made by the consumer despite the purchase being delivered is a 'deficiency of service' and 'unfair trade practice'.
According to sources, the complaint ordered an ice cream dubbed 'Nutty Death By Chocolate' from Swiggy on January 26, 2023, at about 1.54 p.m. The order came from Bengaluru's eatery 'Cream Stone Ice Cream' and cost Rs. 187.
According to reports, a Swiggy agent picked up the order after 35 minutes but never delivered it to the complaint. However, the order's status was displayed as 'delivered' on the app. In this regard, the individual also sent an email to the food-tech behemoth, requesting a refund of the amount he spent, which the latter refused to do.
This prompted the complaint to approach the consumer forum for relief and compensation in the amount of Rs. 10,000 and Rs. 7,500 for litigation fees.
However, the bench observed that the award of Rs. 10,000 and Rs. 7,500 for litigation costs appeared to be excessive. As a result, they ordered the opposing party (in this case, Swiggy) to repay Rs. 187 while also paying Rs. 3,000 and Rs. 2000 in compensation and litigation costs, respectively.
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