A court here has issued a summons to food delivery app Zomato in a civil suit seeking a restraining order against the company from continuing its services allowing users to order "hot and authentic food" from "iconic restaurants" across the national capital.

The court was hearing a plea filed by a Gurugram resident, which claimed Zomato was engaging in the "false and fraudulent" practice of delivering fresh food from well-known restaurants under its sub-category, 'Dilli ke Legends'.

In an order passed recently, Civil Judge Umesh Kumar said, "Issue summons of the suit and notice of application." According to the plea, Sourav Mall placed an order on October 24 last year, from three different eateries in Jama Masjid, Kailash Colony and Jangpura, following which he tracked the delivery partner and found that the order was picked from the "unknown and unnamed" place and not from the original restaurant.

"Why was the food picked up from a nearby location when there is no branch of the restaurant partner there? Why is the food not delivered in the original packaging of the restaurant partner? What is the guarantee that the food has been prepared by the restaurant partner? What is the guarantee that the food is prepared fresh and hot?" the plea said.

It was "inexplicable" how Zomato managed delivery from Delhi's iconic restaurants to locations in Gurugram and Noida within 30 minutes, it added.

The plea said, "Such representation to users, customers or patrons of Zomato, is indeed intended to deceive the public at large." The plea was filed as a "representative suit" for numerous affected individuals under the Code of Civil Procedure (CPC).

The matter has been posted on March 20 for further proceedings.

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