How do I complain about a food delivery app for spoiled food, wrong orders or non-delivery?

Question

A food delivery app delivered a spoiled meal, or delivered nothing at all while charging my card, and customer support is not resolving it. I want to know my legal remedy. What I am unsure about is the procedure — where the application goes, what it costs, and how long food delivery complaint matters usually take. A plain explanation of the steps, in order, would help more than a general answer.

MyVakeel Legal Desk · Accepted Answer

The law that applies to food delivery complaint here is Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules 2020, Rule 5, Food Safety and Standards Act 2006, Section 26, Consumer Protection Act 2019, Section 2(11) and Consumer Protection Act 2019, Section 2(34). The detail below matters, because Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules 2020, Rule 5 draws the line differently depending on what your documents show.

Rule 5 of the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules 2020 requires every e-commerce entity, including a food delivery marketplace, to appoint a grievance officer and to acknowledge and resolve consumer complaints within the timelines specified in the Rules.

Section 26 of the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006 makes it an offence to sell or supply food that is unsafe or not of the nature, substance or quality demanded, and this applies to the restaurant partner, while the delivery platform can be jointly answerable if it misrepresented the seller's compliance or hygiene rating.

A food delivery platform charging for an order that is never delivered, or refusing a refund for a materially defective delivery such as spoiled or contaminated food, is a deficiency in service and unfair trade practice under Sections 2(11) and 2(47) of the Consumer Protection Act 2019.

Under Section 2(34) of the Consumer Protection Act 2019 defining 'product service provider', both the marketplace platform and the restaurant listed on it can be impleaded together in a single consumer complaint for the same transaction.

Photographic evidence of the spoiled food, the order confirmation and payment receipt, and the in-app chat with customer support are the essential evidence to establish both non-delivery and quality complaints.

What this means for you: 1) Photograph the spoiled or incorrect food item immediately and save the order details and payment proof; 2) Raise the complaint within the app's support chat and request a refund, quoting the specific order ID; 3) Escalate to the platform's grievance officer through its published grievance email if the app support does not help; 4) File a consumer complaint against the platform and the restaurant if a refund or replacement is refused.

Where the facts are disputed, what usually decides a food delivery complaint matter is the paper trail — dated complaints, acknowledgments and written replies under Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules 2020, Rule 5. You can post the details on the MyVakeel forum for a practising advocate to review, or book a paid consultation with a Bar Council verified lawyer in consumer law.