Hyderabad court fined Swiggy Rs 35,000 for inflating a delivery distance 9.7 to 14 km

Emmadi Suresh Babu, a Hyderabad resident, bought a Swiggy One membership that promised free delivery within a certain distance. On November 1, 2023 he ordered food and was charged a Rs 103 delivery fee anyway: Swiggy had increased the delivery distance from 9.7 kilometers to 14 kilometers, pushing the order outside his membership benefit. He complained to the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission in Ranga Reddy, submitting Google Maps screenshots as evidence of the inflated distance.

Swiggy did not attend the hearings, so the commission proceeded without the company's defense, relying on Babu's affidavit and supporting documents. It found Swiggy guilty of unfair trade practices and ordered it to refund Rs 350.48 with 9% interest from the date of filing plus the Rs 103 delivery charge, pay Rs 5,000 for mental distress and inconvenience, cover Rs 5,000 in litigation costs, and deposit Rs 25,000 as punitive damages into the Consumer Welfare Fund — Rs 35,453 in all — and to stop inflating delivery distances for Swiggy One members.

The ruling surfaced as Swiggy prepared its November 6, 2024 initial public offering, which aimed to raise over Rs 11,000 crore; the ET reported Norway's sovereign wealth fund Norges and Fidelity had reportedly made anchor bids totaling over $15 billion for a $605 million allocation.

Ordered to pay Rs 35,453 — refunds with 9% interest, Rs 5,000 for distress, Rs 5,000 costs and Rs 25,000 punitive damages — and to stop inflating distances

The platform's own distance calculation grew beyond reality — 9.7 km became 14 km — converting a promised free delivery into a paid one.

The charge landed on a paying member whose subscription was sold on free delivery within a set distance.

Swiggy skipped the hearings entirely, forfeiting its defense and drawing an ex parte ruling with punitive damages.

Membership benefits are promises with a meter behind them: quietly re-engineering the measurement that decides when a promise applies turns a Rs 103 fee into a punitive ruling.

The commission gave Swiggy 45 days to comply with the order, which required the refunds, the Rs 35,453 in payments, and an end to inflating delivery distances for Swiggy One members.