A consumer court in Gujarat has ruled that fast food chains KFC and Pizza Hut should not charge extra fees for packaging charges from consumers. The judgment comes after a law student from Bihar filed a PIL when he noticed that extra charges were being added to his order when he tried ordering food via the food delivery app Zomato.
In its eight-page judgment, the consumer court observed that KFC
and Pizza Hut must bear the expenses of packaging and they
cannot recover the expenses from the consumers. It also held that levying of “restaurant packaging charge” amounted to unfair trade practices.
Speaking to Moneycontrol, the petitioner, 21-year-old Rounak Sinha, a final-year law student at Faculty of Law, Marwadi University, said, "A year ago, while ordering food from Zomato, I noticed that they were charging restaurant packing fees for every food product. At that time, KFC was charging Rs 33 as packing charges. So I served a notice to Pizza Hut and KFC. When they did not respond, I filed a consumer complaint against the district consumer forum of Rajkot, Gujarat and then they responded that the packaging charges were being levied by Zomato."
Zomato on the other hand, responded that it is the restaurant partners who decide the packaging fee, he added. "My contention before the district consumer court was that it is the duty of the seller to ensure that the food is in a deliverable condition and the seller cannot ask the consumers to bear the expenses. And then there were certain judgments of the state commission which supported my point."
Sinha clarified that when he filed the PIL in 2022, only two to three restaurants were charging the extra fee unlike now when almost all food orders on apps have a separate packaging charge.
Following the consumer court's order, Sinha wrote to Zomato again, requesting the platform to not engage in such "deceptive practices" with their restaurant partners.
"I am pleased to share that two restaurant partners listed on your portal namely KFC and Pizza-hut have been held liable for unfair trade practice for levying the 'restaurant packaging charge' from the consumers," Sinha stated in a legal notice sent to Zomato which was sourced by Moneycontrol. "Such deceptive practices are taking place on the Zomato Platform. I sincerely believe that you, being one of the biggest market players, will not allow restaurants to adopt such highly unfair and illegal trade practices on your platform."
Sinha also mentioned that he may take legal action against the food delivery giant if no action is taken in the matter.
When asked if he had also written to Zomato's rival Swiggy, Sinha said, "There was no specific reason. Since I ordered food on Zomato, I sent them the legal notice. Right now, not only Swiggy but Eat Sure is also allowing the levy of packaging charges."
Paying extra for packaging charges has been a bone of contention for several consumers. Last week, a Zomato customer in Ahmedabad, who placed an order of three plates of theplas for Rs 60 each was charged Rs 60 for the food containers. Complaining about the fee, the woman took to Twitter and demanded an explanation from the food tech company.
"Container charge is equivalent to the item that I have ordered Rs 60 for the container charge. Seriously?" Khushboo Thakkar tweeted tagging Zomato.
A photo of the bill shared showed that each plate of the ordered dish was worth Rs 60 -- same as the fee charged for the food container.
Responding to the tweet, Zomato explained, "Hi Khushboo, while taxes are universal and vary from 5 percent to 18 percent depending on the type of food. Packaging charges are levied by our restaurant partners, they are the ones who implement and earn from this practice."
Moneycontrol has reached out to Zomato for a comment, this story will be updated when the company responds.
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