According to reports, a court in Delhi has summoned Zomato in a civil suit seeking a restraining order against the foodtech giant for continuing to allow users to order “hot and authentic food” from “iconic restaurants” across the national capital.
During the court session, a plea filed by a Gurugram resident alleged that Zomato was involved in the “false and fraudulent” practice of delivering fresh food from renowned restaurants under its sub-category, ‘Dilli ke Legends’.
In an order passed recently, Civil Judge Umesh Kumar said, “Issue summons of the suit and notice of application.”
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As per the plea, Sourav Mall placed an order on October 24th last year from three different eateries located in Jama Masjid, Kailash Colony, and Jangpura. Subsequently, he tracked the delivery partner and discovered that the order was collected from an “unknown and unnamed” location rather than the original restaurants.
“Why was the food picked up from a nearby location when there is no branch of the restaurant partner there? Why is the food not delivered in the original packaging of the restaurant partner? What is the guarantee that the food has been prepared by the restaurant partner? What is the guarantee that the food is prepared fresh and hot?” the plea said.
The statement added that it was “inexplicable” how Zomato managed to deliver from Delhi’s iconic restaurants to locations in Gurugram and Noida within 30 minutes.
The plea said, “Such representation to users, customers or patrons of Zomato, is indeed intended to deceive the public at large.”
The plea was submitted as a “representative suit” under the Code of Civil Procedure (CPC), aiming to address the concerns of multiple affected individuals.
The case has been scheduled for further proceedings on March 20th.
Zomato recently announced a consolidated profit after tax (PAT) of INR 138 Cr for the December quarter (Q3) of the financial year 2023-24 (FY24), driven by significant growth in its quick commerce business.
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Zomato stated that it remains on course to achieve its target of adjusted EBITDA break-even for Blinkit by the June quarter of the financial year 2025.
The majority of the total operating revenue continued to be generated by its food delivery segment. Although the segment’s revenue increased by 29% year-over-year to INR 2,205 Cr, the sequential growth fell short of the company’s expectations.