CCI Finds No Prima Facie Case Against Zomato Under Section 4

Case Details: Lalit Wadher v. Zomato Ltd. - [2025] 176 taxmann.com 396 (CCI)

Judiciary and Counsel Details

• Anil Agrawal, Ms Sweta Kakkad & Deepak Anurag, Member
  Ms Ravneet Kaur, Chairperson

Facts of the Case

In the instant case, OP, i.e, Zomato, was a mobile application-based food delivery company. The Informant filed information against OP alleging that OP was charging inflated prices for food on OP’s platform, charging platform and other fees, not ensuring the edibility of delivered food, non-disclosure of the timing of payment to restaurants, and thus earning profits from treasury operations.

Further, it was alleged that the OP did not take any onus and/or responsibility for food items delivered by it to the consumer, who had recourse only to the OP’s customer care, which redirected such a complainant to the restaurant.

The Informant further alleged that OP did not take responsibility for purity, freshness or the age on the shelf, of the food delivered which may adversely affect the health and wellbeing of consumers.

OP was also stated to be operating as a duopoly along with a similar company without any other competition. However, the informant had not provided any data/evidence in this regard.

It was noted that since allegations largely pertained to levy of various kinds of charges viz. food charges, platform fees, delivery fees, tip etc., by OP, these did not appear to be unfair and discriminatory in nature.

CCI Held

The CCI held that the tip was not mandatory and there was an option not to pay the same, which was easily visible. Therefore, no prima facie case of contravention of the provisions of section 4 of the Act was made out against OP.