Pizza size fraud? Customer orders 10-inch, gets 7-inch; Court orders ₹10,520 compensation

A pizza order that began with a ₹505 bill has ended with a ₹10,520 payout after a consumer commission in Uttarakhand held a food delivery platform and a café responsible for delivering a seven-inch pizza instead of the advertised 10-inch product.

The Haridwar District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission held M/S Bundle Technologies Pvt. Ltd. and Cafe Fost Factory, Tapovan, jointly liable for deficiency in service. The order came on a complaint filed by Jwalapur resident Raj Trehan, who alleged that the pizzas delivered to him were significantly smaller than the size advertised on the online food delivery platform, according to The New Indian Express.

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10-inch pizza ordered, 7-inch pizza delivered

According to Trehan's complaint, he ordered two pizzas from Cafe Fost Factory through an online food delivery app on March 10, 2020. The pizzas were listed as 10 inches and the order cost ₹505.

However, when the order arrived, Trehan alleged that the pizzas measured only seven inches. He immediately raised the issue with customer support and sought a refund, but said his request was not accepted despite the discrepancy being acknowledged.

After failing to get a resolution, Trehan approached the National Consumer Helpline (NCH) and the CPGRAMS portal. He also sent a legal notice before eventually approaching the consumer commission.

Consumer commission rejects platform's defence

During the proceedings, the food delivery platform argued that it was merely an intermediary connecting customers with restaurants and was not responsible for manufacturing, preparing, packaging or selling the food.

The commission, however, rejected the argument and held both the platform and the café responsible for the service deficiency. The commission found that the product delivered did not correspond with the description on the online platform, as reported by The New Indian Express.

The bench was headed by President Gagan Kumar Gupta, with Dr Amaresh Rawat and Ranjana Goyal as members.

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Why was ₹10,520 awarded?

The commission ordered the two parties to jointly pay ₹10,520 to Trehan within 45 days.

The amount includes:

₹505: cost of the pizzas
₹15: delivery charges
₹5,000: compensation for mental and physical harassment
₹5,000: litigation expenses

The commission's order stated: “The opposite parties are ordered to jointly and severally pay the complainant, within 45 days from the date of this order, a total sum of ₹10,520.”