NEW DELHI: A Puducherry consumer commission has held a restaurant liable for serving contaminated food and directed it to compensate the customer along with providing 10 free plates of biriyani after a dead insect was found in a plate of biriyani.The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Puducherry, comprising S. Mouttouvel (President), A.S. Suvitha (Member) and G. Arumugam (Member) held that serving contaminated food amounted to “deficiency in service” under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.What was the dispute aboutA complaint was filed by P. Sundarakumara Manikandan against the restaurant named Briyani & Co. after he and his friend Mohammed Niyasudeen went to have biryani but found a dead insect inside the food served to them on December 8, 2025, as per a report by LiveLaw.According to the complaint, the customer immediately recorded the videos and took photos of the food, claiming that the incident reflected extremely unhygienic conditions in the restaurant.The complainant further alleged that the contaminated food caused him mental agony, fear of health complications and loss of trust as a consumer.He then had sought compensation of Rs 1,30,000 under several heads including health risk, negligence, mental agony and advocate fees.He later issued a legal notice seeking compensation and corrective action. However, dissatisfied with the restaurant’s response, he approached the consumer commission alleging the deficiency in restaurant’s service.The commission noted that despite receiving notice, the restaurant failed to appear before the forum or contest the proceedings. As a result, the matter proceeded ex parte against the restaurant.While examining the evidence, the commission noted that the photographic evidence lacked clarity but the video recording established the presence of a dead insect.“Though the Ex. C2 photographic evidence lacks clarity, the video recording contained in M.O.1 unequivocally reveals the presence of a dead insect, which, upon careful perusal, appears to be a dead fly,” the commission observed.The commission further took note of the restaurant’s response to a Google review posted by the complainant, where it acknowledged the incident, tendered an apology, described it as an isolated occurrence and also assured corrective measures — a stand that directly contradicted its legal reply denying any liability.“The contradictory stand taken by the Opposite Party denying the incident in the reply notice while admitting and apologizing for the same in the public domain clearly demonstrates inconsistency and undermines their credibility,” the commission further observed.What did the commission ruleHolding the restaurant guilty of serving unsafe and contaminated food, the commission directed Briyani & Co. to pay Rs 10,000 as compensation for mental agony and deficiency in service, along with Rs. 3,000 towards litigation expenses.The commission also ordered the restaurant to provide the complainant with 10 plates of freshly prepared Hyderabadi Chicken Biriyani free of cost, at two plates per week over five consecutive Sundays, in compliance with food safety standards, commencing within two weeks from the date of receipt of the order.
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