Delhi High Court Temporarily Restrains NBFC From Using 'Zepto' And 'Zepto Finance' Marks

The Delhi High Court has temporarily restrained an NBFC, Naman Finlease, and its directors from using the marks 'Zepto' and 'Zepto Finance' for their lending business.

Justice Jyoti Singh passed the ad-interim order in a trademark infringement suit filed by quick-commerce platform Zepto, represented by Senior Advocate Swati Sukumar.

Zepto submitted that it is the registered proprietor of the word mark and device mark ZEPTO, a coined term with no descriptive meaning or connection to any service.

The company said it discovered that the defendants were operating a loan business under the identical mark 'Zepto Finance' through NBFC. It claimed the issue came to light after it began receiving legal notices and court summons meant for the defendants.

Sukumar submitted that criminal proceedings are pending against the company and its director and major shareholder, Sachin Mittal. She referred to a bail order in which the investigating agency's status report recorded that the accused, "along with his associates procured fraudulent loans" using forged property documents to secure home loans from nationalised and private banks.

The status report further stated that borrowers were compelled to obtain home loans at exorbitant rates of interest and were later "extorted" for repayment.

Sukumar also argued that Zepto operates in the financial services space through 'ZeptoCash', a digital payment wallet with an in-app UPI facility launched in June 2025. This was before the defendants began operating under the impugned mark.

She argued that although the mark is not registered in a class that covers financial services, this did not bar its claim because Zepto's reputation "transcends the classes". 

Drawing a comparison with companies such as Zomato and Swiggy, she invoked the Supreme Court's "zone of legitimate expansion" principle to contend that the mark deserved protection beyond its registered classes.

To demonstrate actual confusion, Sukumar placed on record a suit filed before a civil court in Chennai. In that suit, a borrower sought recovery relating to a loan allegedly disbursed by 'Zepto Finance'.

She pointed out that the summons carried Zepto's corporate address. She also referred to loan entries in the plaint showing personal loans of ₹27,000 and ₹52,000 carrying interest at 1% per day.

Sukumar sought an interim injunction restraining the defendants from using the marks 'Zepto' and 'Zepto Finance'. She submitted that neither mark was registered in the defendants' favour, though they had a pending trademark application.

She also sought a restraint on the transfer of the domain name zeptofinance.com to any other entity associated with the defendants during the pendency of the suit.

After hearing Sukumar, the court restrained the defendants from using the marks 'Zepto' and 'Zepto Finance' and from transferring the domain name till the next date. The matter has been listed before the Joint Registrar on August 21, while the interim application will next be taken up by the court on November 30.