Student wins Rs 25,897 after Domino’s served non-vegetarian burger in ‘veg’ box during Navratri

The commission added that he should also be able to identify vegetarian and non-vegetarian food before consuming it.

“Complainant submitted that he had undergone the ‘Upanyanam Ceremony’, which imposes a lifelong adherence to certain religious austerities, including strict vegetarianism as a matter of ‘Dharmic’ obligation. Further, the incident occurred on the concluding day of his nine-day ‘Navratri Upwas’, i.e. on ‘Dahsmi Tithi’, thus desecrating his sacred vow of fast, the commission said on May 20.

‘Specific rituals, religious sentiments disrupted’

• Firstly, the moot question that arises after hearing the arguments is whether the complainant falls under the definition of consumer. Secondly, whether his religious sentiments have been hurt.
• The Consumer Protection Act expands the definition of a “consumer” to include not just the person who purchases the goods or services but also any other person who uses or benefits from the goods with the purchaser’s approval.
• In the present case, the complainant filed his duly sworn affidavit regarding the fact that Pillai Raghuram placed the said order on his behalf and also received the delivery by making payment on his behalf.
• Moreover, consuming the food article made him a user of the goods envisaged under Section 2(7)(i) and thus, being a “user”, becomes a “consumer”.
• As such, the complainant pointed out the details of specific rituals and religious sentiments that were disrupted due to the negligent act of the opposite party.

Non-veg burger pizza inside veg box

• The student, Uday Jakhar, placed an order with the Domino’s pizza outlet in Jindal Global University, Haryana, on April 18, 2024.
• He selected all vegetarian items: Two burger pizzas classic veg, garlic bread with cheese dip, and an onion pizza, while the friend ordered one burger pizza classic non-veg and a chicken parcel.
• According to him, upon delivery at the college hostel, initial inspection showed a discrepancy, where three classic veg burger pizzas were delivered instead of the ordered two and one was a non-veg burger pizza.
• It was averred that this error was indicated by the green boxes designated for vegetarian items and featured the vegetarian mark, lacking the additional seal typical for non-vegetarian items, which was present on the other non-vegetarian items in the order.

Delivered on ‘Dashmi of Chaitra Navratri’

The complainant stated that upon consuming a bite from what was labelled as a vegetarian burger pizza, he immediately detected an off-putting texture and discovered chicken and meat stuffing inside upon inspection.

The complainant averred that this incident led to severe vomiting and dizziness; it was particularly distressing as it coincided with ‘Dashmi of Chaitra Navratri’, violating the religious fast observed by the complainant, who was rooted deeply in lifelong vegetarianism.

The complainant approached the Domino’s outlet on campus, but the response was allegedly dismissive. Staff suggested that the mishap resulted from a shortage of non-vegetarian packaging materials, and the explanation was captured by the outlet’s audio-visual surveillance. The complainant then issued a legal notice to Domino’s but in vain, and hence he filed a consumer complaint.

‘Complaint vague, baseless’

Appearing for Domino’s, advocate Jatin Dahiya submitted a written statement taking a preliminary objection that the complaint is not maintainable in the present form as the same is totally vague, baseless and with mala fide intent and the complainant has made misconceived and baseless allegations of unfair trade practice in the complaint.

He argued that the complainant is not a consumer defined under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019. It was also averred that the complainant had ordered one regular pan onion, one garlic bread with cheesy dip, two vegetarian classic burger pizzas, one non-vegetarian classic burger pizza and one chicken.

Significance

This judgment reinforces strict food labelling standards, confirming that spiritual distress from mislabelled food constitutes a “deficiency in service”. It also establishes that a “user” of a product, not just the purchaser, is a “consumer,” ensuring legal protection for anyone harmed by negligent food packaging.

Consumers facing similar grievances may contact the consumer helpline in their respective states (Haryana contact: 1800-180-2087) or dial the National Consumer Helpline at 1915 for assistance.