Consumer gets expired chicken on Swiggy Instamart: Court says ‘endangers public health’, orders Rs 20,000 payout

Expired product delivered

• According to the complaint, the complainant had placed an order through Swiggy Instamart on January 7, 2025, for “Keventer Chicken POP” priced at Rs 251.
• After receiving the item, she discovered that its expiry date was November 1, 2024, more than two months before the purchase date.
• She alleged that the delivery of the expired food product put her and her family at risk of food poisoning and contamination.
• The complainant emailed both Swiggy and Keventer Agro Limited on January 10, 2025, raising the issue.
• She claimed that despite repeated follow-ups, Swiggy eventually offered only a partial refund of Rs 197 and refused further compensation, forcing her to approach the consumer commission.
• Swiggy contested the complaint, arguing that it merely acted as an intermediary connecting customers with independent merchants and could not be held liable for faults attributable to the seller.
• It was further argued that its customer support team, upon being notified of the delivery of the expired meat, promptly initiated a refund to the complainant in accordance with its established standard operating procedures.
• It was submitted that the said swift action mitigated any potential loss, and the complainant had not experienced any enduring adverse health effects or significant harm as a result of receiving the expired product.

Rs 20,000 awarded

The commission reiterated the settled proposition of law that an intermediary is expected to observe due diligence and statutory obligations.

It noted that, except for stating that it has no role in the transaction between the complainant and Keventer Agro Limited and its role is limited to that of an ‘intermediary’, nothing was on the record to show that the opposite parties had adhered to the statutory obligations under the law.

“It is also an admitted fact that, although the complainant has raised the issue of delivering the expired product with the opposite parties No.1 & 2 (Swiggy Instamart and Keventer Agro, respectively) within three days from the date of placing the order, the opposite party No. 1, after one and half month, has informed about refund. Both parties have not submitted evidence regarding the exact date on which the refund amount is transferred into the source account,” the commission observed.

“The pleadings and the evidence on the record establish that the opposite parties have delivered the expired product and failed to address the grievance raised by the complainant in a proper manner,” the commission remarked.

It noted that the conduct of the opposite parties clearly established that they failed to discharge their assured contractual obligation and held that the service provided by them was deficient.

“The act of opposite parties has certainly caused inconvenience and mental agony to the complainant. Hence, in our considered opinion, the complainant is entitled for just and reasonable compensation along with full refund paid by the complainant and costs,” the commission held.

Allowing the complaint in part, the commission directed Swiggy Instamart and Keventer Agro Limited to jointly and severally refund the remaining Rs 54, pay Rs 10,000 as compensation and Rs 10,000 as costs.