Recently, a resident of Bengaluru filed a complaint with the consumer court against a local restaurant after an unusual dining experience. As per The Times of India report, the man, identified as Krishnappa, sued the eatery for serving him “chicken biryani without any chicken.” Following this, the city’s court ordered the restaurant to pay Rs 1,000 as compensation for the mental agony caused and refund Rs 150 for the meal.

The incident took place in April this year when Krishnappa, facing a shortage of cooking gas at home, visited the restaurant with his wife. They ordered chicken biryani, received the food parcel, and returned home. However, upon opening the package, they discovered that the biryani rice was without any meat. Krishnappa immediately notified the restaurant to resolve the issue. Despite the owner’s assurance of re-sending the order within a few minutes, it failed to arrive even after a two-hour wait, with calls to the restaurant going unanswered, as per Krishnappa. Frustrated by the lack of response, he served a notice and sent legal documents to the restaurant but received no reply from the owner.

Krishnappa decided to escalate the matter and approached the Bengaluru Urban District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission in May. In his complaint, he sought compensation of Rs 30,000 for the unpleasant dining experience.

Krishnappa presented pictures of the meatless biryani and highlighted the mental distress he and his wife went through because they couldn’t cook that day. The judges acknowledged his argument and ruled in Krishnappa’s favor, stating that the restaurant had failed to provide the expected services to the customer, whether knowingly or unknowingly. Consequently, the court ordered the restaurant to compensate Krishnappa and refund the amount.