Hyderabad: Swiggy directed to pay Rs. 2,000 to customer for charging Rs. 3 extra GST

Hyderabad: A restaurant and food delivery application were charged dearly for an extra GST of Rs. 3 charged on biryani. Swiggy has been ordered by the Hyderabad District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission-3 to pay Rs. 2,000 in compensation following a complaint. The delivery platform was also told to return Rs. 25 delivery charge and Biryani House collected Rs. 3 more towards GST.

The complainant identified as K. Murali Kumar Reddy, a student and resident of Himayatnagar said that on a plate of biryani, Rs. 10 was collected as GST (as against Rs. 7). The plate of biryani was originally priced at Rs. 200 but the cost came to Rs. 140 after using a coupon. A petition was filed against Biryani House, a restaurant in Musheerabad and Swiggy Bundl Technologies Private Limited. They were also directed to pay Rs. 1,000 towards the cost of complaint by the commission, reported The Times Of India.

On September 8, 2019, the complainant ordered chicken biryani from Biryani House via Swiggy.

Murali alleged that tax should be charged on the discounted price of Rs. 140 should come to Rs. 7 as per GST rules. On every bill, a GST TIN number has to be generated as per the GST Act.

Swiggy in its argument said that they cannot be held liable for the wrong GST charged, as the prices are charged by the merchants/restaurants. It said that it is protected by the provisions of section 79 of the Information Technology Act, 2000.

The invoice that is attached by the complainant is not an invoice but merely an acknowledgement/order summary.

Biryani House in its argument said that they deliver food to Swiggy at agreed price. The tax is purely a business affair of Swiggy.