Delhi consumer court issues notice in ₹50 lakh claim against Dunzo after sexual harassment by delivery partner

A District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission at New Delhi on Wednesday issued notice to delivery company Dunzo on a complaint seeking ₹50 lakh damages for alleged sexual harassment by a delivery partner, negligent hiring and design defects in the application..A two-member bench of Raj Kumar Chauhan and Dr Rajendra Dhar issued the notice today..The complainant, Advocate Rahella Khan, stated in her complaint that a Dunzo delivery partner showed up drunk at her address at midnight and abused her, after she had placed an order at 9 pm.She alleged that after two days, the delivery partner contacted her over WhatsApp and asked her to withdraw her complaint against him. He then harassed her and sent her abusive threats of murder and rape. The partner allegedly used extremely profane language and also sent her a photo of a girl he claimed to have murdered, warning the complainant that she would be next.Khan claimed that Dunzo did not step in to provide an efficacious remedy to the situation. In response to a legal notice she sent, the company apparently shifted the blame on her for contacting the delivery partner directly..Aggrieved by the attitude of the company, Khan lodged a complaint with the police, on the basis of which a first information report (FIR) was registered. In that case, a Saket court had called for the investigation report from the police.Later, she moved the district consumer forum for damages on the grounds of sexual harassment, negligent hiring, design defects in the application, misrepresentation by the company with regard to the time of the delivery shown on the application, false advertising, failure of the company to meet reasonable consumer safety expectation and overall negligence, among others..In her complaint, Khan highlighted that Dunzo ought to have adopted policies for midnight deliveries in metropolitan cities like New Delhi, considering the crime rate against women.Communication and getting in touch with the consumer who has raised a complaint is the bare minimum responsibility of the company, the complaint further stated.Further, the website of Dunzo allows a person to become a delivery partner in 2-3 easy steps, which is unacceptable and unsafe for midnight deliveries, it was stated..The complaint was filed through Advocates Abhishek Yadav and Ankita Wadhwa.