Birthday cake never delivered, refund denied: Delhi court orders above Rs 5,000 payout from delivery firm

NEW DELHI: A Delhi consumer commission has held online cake delivery platform IndiaCakes guilty of "deficiency in service" after it failed to deliver a birthday cake ordered for a customer's grandmother and then refused a refund by falsely claiming that the delivery had been attempted.

The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission directed IndiaCakes to refund Rs 1,031 to the complainants along with Rs 2,000 as compensation for mental and physical harassment and Rs 2,000 as litigation costs, all within 60 days.

What was the dispute about?

On February 9, 2024, the complainants placed an online order on IndiaCakes for a half-kg pineapple cake, to be delivered the same day to their grandmother in Sultanpur district, Uttar Pradesh, with a message "Happy Birthday Nani." They paid Rs 756 via UPI after receiving a payment request.

However, within minutes, IndiaCakes sent another email demanding an additional delivery charge of Rs 275, citing the distance of the delivery location — a charge that had not been disclosed at the time of ordering or payment. They then sent another email stating that "the said order is processed for delivery." But the cake never arrived.

After repeated follow-ups, IndiaCakes responded two days later on February 11 claiming that "our delivery person had call for delivery at the delivery address. Your receiver had not accept the order. Your order had been attempted. As it will be treated as delivered and no refund will be done."

The complainant then disputed this, stating that the delivery person had only called to confirm the address and never actually reached the location. They also submitted an audio recording of a call with IndiaCakes customer care, which the commission found corroborated their account.

The commission noted that the recording made it "discernible that the delivery personnel had returned without effecting delivery as the delivery location was situated at a considerable distance" and that the customer care representative had assured the complainant that a refund would be processed.

"The order was for Valentine's week. There is issue with sender and receiver and receiver's family rejected the delivery and refused to accept the order. Since our product cake is perishable item, it was wasted. As per delivery policy and terms and conditions mentioned on website, if the order is refused or rejected by the receiver, the said order is treated as delivered," IndiaCakes said.

What did the commission ruling say?

The commission rejected IndiaCakes' defence entirely. It noted that the company's own refund policy stated that in cases of non-delivery due to remote location, refunds would be issued as coupon codes, which means that even by its own terms, a full non-delivery was not to be treated as a completed order.

"It is evident that despite making full payment and undertaking continuous follow-ups, the complainants neither received the ordered cake for their grandmother's birthday. Considering the order was placed for a special occasion, the lapse assumes special significance," the commission further added.