Mumbai, Aug 28 Serving expired food and drink is not merely a deficiency in service but an irresponsible act, a consumer commission in Nagpur observed while directing an amusement park to pay Rs 4.75 lakh compensation over an engagement ceremony where guests were served expired bottled water and fly-infested sweets.
The commission ordered the operators of Fun N Food Village to pay damages for medical expenses, mental harassment, and loss of family prestige and refund the security deposit.
Serving expired food items at the public event, which included young children, "is not merely a deficiency in service, but an extremely negligent and irresponsible act endangering life and health," the Additional District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (Nagpur) remarked in a recent order.
The panel held that such an act violates a consumer's basic rights, namely, the right to be protected against goods and services hazardous to life and health.
It warned the establishment against serving expired food and beverages to consumers in the future and asked them to strictly adhere to the provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act.
The complainant, a Nagpur resident, had booked the venue for his daughter's engagement ceremony on October 10, 2021, for 250 to 300 guests, paying Rs 1.5 lakh, which included a Rs 50,000 refundable security deposit.
According to the complaint, the venue lacked basic amenities despite prior assurances. Drinking water was unavailable until 4 pm —two hours after the bridal party arrived — and the water bottles eventually provided had expired on September 5, 2021, over a month prior to the event.
The complainant further alleged that dead flies were found in the rasgullas served to the attendees. Following the consumption of contaminated food and expired water, several guests as well as the bride suffered from acute gastroenteritis and anxiety, requiring medical treatment and hospitalisation.
When questioned about the lapses, staff members responded rudely and asked the hosts to make their own arrangements, the complainant alleged.
As the opposite party (the amusement park and its management) failed to file its response within the statutory period, the commission decided the matter ex-parte on merit.
The commission noted that serving unsafe food is a punishable offence under the Food Safety and Standards Act, emphasising that the establishment completely disregarded its legal duty to maintain quality and safety.
"The opposite parties seriously endangered the health of the complainant and their guests by supplying expired food items and drinking water," it stated.
Observing that the embarrassment and insult suffered by the complainant during a crucial family occasion was "of a more serious nature than normal pecuniary loss", the commission ruled that awarding compensation for mental agony and loss of prestige was fully justified.
The commission ordered the opposite party to refund the Rs 50,000 security deposit, pay Rs 2 lakh for deficient service, Rs 1 lakh towards medical expenses, Rs 1 lakh for mental harassment, and Rs 25,000 towards litigation costs.
