Man spots dead bee in Domino’s pizza, Punjab consumer court orders Rs 10,000 aid for poor patients

The district commission had partly allowed a complaint filed by advocate Gurpyar Singh and another customer, awarding them Rs 1 lakh for mental agony, harassment and litigation expenses.

“It is pertinent to observe that the Appellants/OPs (Jubilant Food Works Limited and Domino’s Pizza India) need to be penalised serving unhygienic food item to the Respondents/Complainants (advocate Gurpyar Singh and another customer). Hence, as a measure of deterrence, we are of the view that the Appellants/OPs need to pay some penalty for said lapse…Accordingly, the compensation awarded by the District Commission is reduced from Rs 100000 to Rs 10000,” the state consumer commission said on May 6, modifying the compensation component of the district forum’s order.

Pizza order turns into consumer battle

The dispute traces back to June 24, 2021, when Gurpyar Singh, an advocate practising before the Punjab and Haryana High Court and district courts in Chandigarh, Patiala and Sangrur, visited a Domino’s outlet with another customer.

They ordered two pizzas and soft drinks, together worth Rs 1,060.94. According to the complaint, the evening quickly turned unpleasant when a dead bee or fly was allegedly spotted inside one of the pizzas while it was being eaten.

The complainants claimed they immediately stopped eating and informed the outlet staff, but instead of addressing the issue, the manager allegedly asked them not to raise their voices in front of other customers and behaved rudely with them.

The complaint further stated that one of the customers later developed stomach pain and vomiting and had to visit the Government Multi-Speciality Hospital, Sector 16, Chandigarh, for treatment. They also escalated the issue on the social media platform Twitter (now ‘X’), where Domino’s customer care apologised for the “unpleasant experience” and sought further details regarding the incident.

They subsequently issued a legal notice and approached the consumer commission seeking Rs 20 lakh in damages, along with litigation costs.

Domino’s questioned authenticity of allegations

• Challenging the district commission’s order before the state commission, Domino’s argued that the complaint was based on unverified allegations and unauthenticated photographs.
• The company maintained that it follows strict hygiene protocols across its outlets, including pest-control systems, insect-killer machines and regular sanitation measures.
• The appellants stressed that pizzas are baked at temperatures of nearly 515 degrees Fahrenheit for over five minutes and argued it was improbable for the insect’s body parts to remain intact if it had actually been inside the pizza during the baking process.
• The company also pointed to alleged inconsistencies in the medical documents relied upon by the complainants and contended that no laboratory testing of the pizza had been conducted under the procedure contemplated by Section 38(2)(c) of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.

Social media apology weighed against Domino’s

• The state commission, however, found sufficient material to support the complainants’ version.
• It relied on photographs showing the pizza and the order slip dated June 24, 2021, medical records relating to one of the complainants and screenshots of the Twitter exchange between the complainant and Domino’s customer care.
• The commission said that the apology issued by Domino’s through its official social media handle reflected an admission of lapse and concluded that the complainants had successfully established that an unhygienic pizza had been served to them.
• Even so, the commission said the Rs 1 lakh compensation awarded by the district commission was excessive, given that the total food bill was just over Rs 1,000.
• Modifying the order, it directed that Rs 10,000 be deposited with the “Director PGI Poor Patient Welfare Fund” at the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, instead of being paid to the complainants directly.
• The commission also ordered that Rs 10,000 out of the Rs 50,000 deposited by the company at the time of filing the appeal be transferred to the welfare fund within three weeks, while the remaining amount along with accrued interest be returned to the appellants after expiry of the limitation period.