Food Safety Complaints

Food safety refers to handling food in such a way as to prevent any food borne illness. Food safety is a global issue. Often we have seen news on the media that there was a living insect in the food and how the customers sued the restaurant for it. We have also seen how someone ordered Vegetarian food but was delivered chicken instead.

To lessen the burden of the customer, the government formed The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) in August 2011 under the Food Safety Standards Act, 2006 as a responsive body for promoting and protecting public health in India.

It is important to note that we should buy packaging foods which have FSSAI marked on it as they are generally safer than the others. There has also been a boon of ordering food online which has led to many food delivery apps namely Zomato, Swiggy, Uber Eats, Foodpanda etc. People these days generally prefer to order their food online rather than dining out in a restaurant.

Commonly Reported Food Safety Complaints in India

According to a recent survey more than 10% people are left unsatisfied with the food that was delivered through these online food platforms. The most common food complaints include:

- Wrong product delivered
- Stale food delivered
- Less quanity
- Issues with the quality
- Adulteration
- Foreign material in food (insect in food, plastic in food item, mettalic pin in food item etc)
- Refund not provided
- No customer support etc.

So what can be done if you a have food safety complaint in India?

How to resolve Food Safety Complaints in India?

1. Contact Food Aggregator
First and foremost we should immediately try to contact the customer care of these online portals. As they value customer feedback they will try to resolve the complaint as quickly as possible. Some apps even have automated chat bots for the same. The customer care number of some of the most well known food delivery apps in India are :

Swiggy Customer Care Number – 080-67466789
Zomato Customer Care Number - +61 450 266 295
Uber Eats Customer Care Number – 800-253-9377
Foodpanda Customer Care Number – 1800-3000-3034
Dominos Customer Care Number – 734-930-3030
Pizza Hut Customer Care Number – 800-948-8488
Faasos Customer Care Number - +91-7700020020
Just Eat Customer Care Number - 080 6000 0600

2. Report to FSSAI
It has been noticed that sometimes, even these reputed companies close the complaint of a consumer without providing any fruitful solution. So what can be done if their customer support is not providing any solution? Go to FSSAI and file a complaint at https://foodlicensing.fssai.gov.in/cmsweb/HOME.aspx

This is FSSAI website planned to help people facing food related problems. Once you have filed the complaint by attaching all the supporting evidences your complaint will be forwarded to the Food Safety Officer who will then handle your complaint. The customer care number of FSSAI is 1800112100. You can even share your concern here.

3. Send a Legal Notice
If you do not get any response from the food delivering app then you can also send them a Legal Notice to resolve your complaint. You can use Voxya for drafting and sending Legal Notice to them through a professional lawyer.

4. File a Consumer Forum Case
Finally, if you are not getting any resolution then you can raise a complaint at your nearest consumer forum. You need not hire a lawyer to file a case there. You can do it yourself in just 2-3 hours time. We at Voxya help consumers in taking legal action against food delivering apps by sending a legal notice and preparing the case documents to file case in consumer court. So, if you are frustrated, File a complaint today!

Most Common Issue Reported for Food Safety Complaints

Nonveg delivered in place of veg

Item not delivered

Less quantity

Wrong item received

Items were missing

Stale food delivered

Bad packing

Payment deducted but no delivery

Delay in delivery

Credits and coupon not working

Refund not received

No Customer support

Charged twice

Dust particles Hair in food

Delivered different food (Swiggy) ^Open

Yesterday I ordered veg Hyderabadi biryani from JBB fast food corner from Swiggy. But they delivered me non-veg biryani. I am pure vegetarian belongs to the brahmin family. The company is not accepting my complaint even not giving reply to my m...

Apr 18, 2019 by Nidhi Shukla

Food not delivered (Swiggy) ^Open

I ordered food online via swiggy at *:** am on April **, ****. They sent me a message confirming the order and gave an estimated time of delivery of about ** minutes. I waited till *:** am but on the Swiggy’s app it was still showing that foo...

Apr 18, 2019 by Raghavendra Tripathi

Package not delivered (Swiggy) ^Open

I ordered two plates pav bhaji from shiv Sagar Viman Nagar, Pune at *.** pm (prepaid Order) at *.** pm. I called the delivery executive assigned to please try and expedite the delivery as I have children and they are quite hungry. He agreed to...

Apr 17, 2019 by Nikki Pandey Awasthi

Spilled food delivered (Swiggy) ^Open

Food in the package was spilled out and no actions were taken by concerned. Please do the needful....

Apr 17, 2019 by Prajwal M

Not deliver the correct order (Zomato) ^Open

Today I placed an order with Zomato. They deliver the order but one item from that order was missing. At the time of delivery, the delivery agent was in a hurry and ask me to rate * stars for their service but he asks me to do it soon. I reply ...

Apr 17, 2019 by Ritu shukla

Wrong food received (Paradise Briyani ) ^Open

I took a veg biryani parcel on ** April **** at **:** pm from Paradise Food Court, JP Nagar, Bangalore. When I went home ate a few hands of the Briyani and took the rest into my plate to my surprise I saw * eggs in it. I am a pure Brahmin and t...

Apr 17, 2019 by Arun Kumar Kannan

Regarding the refund (Zomato) ^Open

I have book food through Zomato on **.**.****. After booking same time cancel my order by mistake and the Zomato is taken ***% penalty of my food. Then I send mail to customer care. He told me our agent went to your location for delivery at tha...

Apr 17, 2019 by SYED MOHSIN HAIDER

Delivery guy called me to pick parcel from far place (Swiggy.com) ^Open

Order ID #*********** *) Food quantity was not adequate to add on items were not added in good quantity. *) Cookie was very very soggy. *)Delivery guy called me to pick the parcel from far place from my home instead of delivering it to my d...

Apr 17, 2019 by Racheet Mehta

Cancelled my food order (Swiggy) ^Open

I ordered food from restaurant Kings of wings via the swiggy app on **th of April **** at **:** pm. After half an hour when there was a delivery executive was assigned to my order I then asked for help from swiggy chat. During the process, they...

Apr 17, 2019 by Aniket Singh

Worst quality of food (Swiggy) ^Open

The food that was delivered to me was the worst quality of it, the entire food is lying on my dustbin because the food wasn't suitable for cattle as well. The gravy was stinking, the Parotha were half cooked. In fact, it was not even ** per cen...

Apr 16, 2019 by Deepak Kumar SIngh

Iron spring in knorr tomato soup (Hindustan Unilever) ^Open

We got an iron spring in knorr tomato soup. We found it at the time of consuming by my * years old daughter. Spring was opened from one side like the fish hunting tool. Luckily she found and shouted. I already informed to Unilever company. They...

Apr 15, 2019 by Illiyaz ahmed

Worst food delivered (Swiggy.com) ^Open

I have ordered a thick shake from Thickshake factory through swiggy.com. The quality of the shake is very bad and I have contacted swiggy support. They just said sorry and replied with nonsense messages. I request you take action upon them....

Apr 15, 2019 by B

Different item delivered (Swiggy) ^Open

I have ordered a chocolate cake through swiggy but a different cake was delivered and there is no after support to get my refund back from Swiggy's side. ...

Apr 14, 2019 by Tarun

Food not delivered (Uber Eats India) ^Open

They confirmed my order of three chicken masala and then the order got delayed. We have to wait for one hour and fifteen minutes and then they suddenly cancel my order. We were late for other arrangements and then we are very hungry so we got m...

Apr 14, 2019 by Yogesh Bhagchand Dulhot

Harassment done with me (Swiggy) ^Open

I order the food from Swiggy. I was harassed by a delivery boy whose name is Akarsh....

Apr 14, 2019 by Nahida

Bad quality food and bad customer service (Swiggy) ^Open

I ordered biriyani and lime juice combo on **-**-**** on Swiggy in Kalamassery, Kerala, India. I paid Rs.*** via Paytm. The food had a bad smell. And the chicken and gravy were burnt. The rice was uncooked. Simply saying, never had to face food...

Apr 14, 2019 by Albert Augustine

Quantity given is not adequate (Swiggy) ^Open

I had order chicken masala from a restaurant through swiggy. The quantity was not adequate. When I contacted the customer care for this issue they said the quantity depends on the restaurant and varies with different orders. So to prove if the...

Apr 14, 2019 by Josley jafran vas

Amount deducted without our consent (Zomato) ^Open

The company advertised in the media about promo discount and accordingly a product of worth Rs. ***/- was available to the customer at Rs.**/-. The promo was from Zomato and we didn't have any problems with that. But From January onwards they c...

Apr 14, 2019 by Keshab Chandra Goswami

Order cancelled by the company (Zomato) ^Open

I cancelled an order of ₹*** just after * min of ordering. As it was ordered by mistake on Zomato. The amount was deducted from my paytm wallet. After cancellation, the whole amount paid was kept as a penalty and as I cancelled the order it n...

Apr 14, 2019 by Sumit Kumar

Order cancelled without information (Swiggy) ^Open

I have ordered on **th April and these people have cancelled my order after * hour without informing me. They actually have wasted my time in between an hour. Today I have spoken with them. They easily said that refund has been cancelled due to...

Apr 14, 2019 by Ameer Pahadasingh