FSSAI registration is a mandatory government licence for anyone manufacturing, processing, packaging, storing, distributing, importing, or selling food in India. It is issued through the FoSCoS portal, comes in three categories (Basic, State, and Central) based on annual turnover, and costs between ₹100 and ₹7,500 a year in government fees. Operating a food business without it can attract a fine of up to ₹5 lakh and, in serious cases, imprisonment under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.
Most guides on this topic were written before March 2026, when FSSAI quietly rewrote the rules on how long a licence stays valid. That single change affects almost every food business in India, and very few articles online mention it yet. This guide covers the current process end to end: who needs which licence, what documents actually get accepted, what the government charges, how the new validity rule works, and how to check or verify a licence once you have one.
FSSAI issues three categories of authorisation, and the one you need depends almost entirely on annual turnover, with a few exceptions for scale of production, imports, and multi-state operations.
A few thresholds sit outside pure turnover and matter for specific businesses:
The single most common mistake first-time applicants make is picking the wrong category. Applying for a State Licence when your business genuinely needs Basic Registration, or the reverse, is the leading cause of rejected or delayed applications on the FoSCoS portal.
The document list scales with the licence type. Basic Registration needs very little paperwork; State and Central Licences ask for a fuller business and premises profile.
Everything listed above, plus:
Central Licence applicants additionally need an Import Export Code (IEC) if trading across borders, a food recall plan describing how a product would be pulled from the market if a safety issue surfaced, and Form IX nominating an authorised signatory backed by a board resolution for companies.
FoSCoS now asks applicants to upload a geo-tagged photograph of the business premises, captured with location services switched on, so the coordinates on file match the registered address. A generic phone photo without location data, or a scanned utility bill alone, is no longer sufficient for State and Central applications. Basic Registration is largely unaffected, but it is worth confirming the current requirement for your state before you upload documents, since portal rules are still being tightened through 2026.
Three document issues account for most rejections seen in practice:
Every FSSAI application in India goes through one official portal: foscos.fssai.gov.in, the Food Safety Compliance System that replaced the older FLRS platform. There is no separate state-level website for this.
Step 1: Create your FBO account. Go to the FoSCoS homepage, select "New License/Registration," and sign up with your mobile number and email. The system assigns you an FBO ID.
Step 2: Choose your license category. Based on turnover and business type, select Basic Registration, State Licence, or Central Licence. The portal will also ask you to pick your Kind of Business (KoB); this selection drives which document checklist and licence category the system suggests, so get it right the first time.
Step 3: Fill out the application form. Form A for Basic Registration is short. Form B, used for both State and Central, is longer and asks for premises details, production capacity, and food category information.
Step 4: Upload documents. Scanned files, not phone photos, and each file typically under 2 MB. Include the geo-tagged premises photo where required.
Step 5: Verify via OTP and Aadhaar e-sign. For faster processing under the Tatkal option, applicants verify their PAN, complete OTP verification on both the registered mobile and Aadhaar-linked mobile, and e-sign the declaration using Aadhaar.
Step 6: Pay the fee and submit. Payment is accepted via net banking, UPI, or debit/credit card. You can pay for up to five years of fees in a single transaction; there is no instalment option, and the fee is non-refundable once submitted.
Step 7: Track and download. Save your reference number. Once approved, log back into FoSCoS and download the certificate from the "Issued" section of your dashboard.
For small food businesses eligible for Basic Registration, FoSCoS offers a Tatkal route that can issue the registration within 48 hours of successful payment and digital verification, provided the applicant's Kind of Business qualifies and Aadhaar e-sign is completed cleanly. It is worth checking the current list of eligible business categories on the portal before assuming Tatkal applies to you, since FSSAI periodically revises which KoBs qualify.
India's food safety rules include a deemed-approval provision: if the licensing authority does not act within these timelines, the application is treated as approved. In practice, this protection only holds up if you can show the application was complete and duly submitted with every required document, so keep your acknowledgement and payment receipts safe.
The government fee structure has stayed stable through 2026. What people pay a consultant or platform for, on top of this, is document review, correct category selection, and follow-up, not the government charge itself.
You can pay for one to five years upfront in a single transaction. Paying for multiple years at once used to be the standard advice to avoid renewal lapses; under the 2026 rules explained below, that calculation has changed, so read the next section before you decide how many years to pay for.
This is the part of FSSAI compliance that most content online still gets wrong, because it was true until very recently and no longer is.
Until March 2026, every FSSAI licence and registration was valid for a fixed term of one to five years, chosen and paid for at the time of application, after which the food business operator had to file a renewal before the expiry date or face a late fee of ₹100 per day.
The Food Safety and Standards (Licensing and Registration of Food Businesses) Amendment Regulations, 2026, notified by FSSAI on 10 March 2026 and in force from 11 March 2026, replaced that entire system. Under the amended rules, a licence or registration certificate now remains valid indefinitely, until it is suspended, cancelled, or voluntarily surrendered. There is no more fixed expiry date to track for licences issued under the amended framework.
This does not mean the compliance work disappears. Two obligations still apply every year, and skipping either one triggers an automatic suspension rather than a late fee:
A suspended licence is revoked and reactivated only after the outstanding fee and any applicable penalty are cleared. If a business closes down, the operator must inform the licensing or registering authority in writing within 30 days and formally surrender the certificate; no fee already paid is refunded on surrender.
The amendment also introduces a risk-based inspection and audit system in place of routine, fixed-schedule inspections. The frequency of future inspections now depends on the type of food business, the food category handled, past compliance history, and third-party audit outcomes where applicable. The Commissioner of Food Safety can also direct a business to arrange a food safety audit through an FSSAI-approved third-party auditor at its own cost, with an obligation to give the auditor full access to premises and records.
Practical takeaway: if your existing licence was issued before March 2026 with a multi-year expiry date already fixed, that date still governs until you renew; once you renew or apply fresh under the current regulations, the indefinite-validity rule applies going forward. Either way, budget for the annual fee and, where applicable, the annual return, since those are now the real compliance deadlines that matter, not a renewal date.
The Food Safety and Standards (Licensing and Registration of Food Businesses) Amendment Regulations, 2026 were notified via the Gazette on 10 March 2026, with revised turnover thresholds taking effect from 1 April 2026. Here's the direct comparison:
Two things to note. First, perpetual validity doesn't mean zero ongoing obligations: you still pay the annual fee and file your compliance return, and missing either now triggers automatic suspension rather than just a penalty. Second, some businesses need a State or Central Licence regardless of turnover, including importers, exporters, e-commerce food platforms, and multi-state manufacturers, so turnover alone doesn't always decide your category.
Anyone can verify whether an FSSAI number is genuine, active, or fake using the official FoSCoS verification tool, free of charge.
If the number returns no result, or the business name shown does not match what is on the ground, treat that as a red flag. Genuine FSSAI numbers always resolve to a real, registered business on the portal.
Every certificate carries a unique 14-digit number, broken into five parts:
This number must appear on food packaging, invoices, and the shop's signboard, in a colour that contrasts clearly with the background so it is genuinely legible, not just technically present.
Home-based food businesses can and must register, and a residential address qualifies as valid business premises under FSSAI rules. Selling homemade cakes, pickles, tiffins, or snacks for payment, even occasionally through friends or a WhatsApp group, makes you a Food Business Operator. Most home kitchens fit comfortably under Basic Registration if turnover stays below ₹1.5 crore a year; many states do not require a formal NOC for home-kitchen premises, though it is worth confirming locally. It is worth revisiting your turnover annually, since side income from home baking can cross the ₹1.5 crore threshold faster than expected, at which point you need to upgrade to a State Licence.
A cloud kitchen has no dine-in space but is still classified as a full food business operator and needs a valid FSSAI licence from day one, before the first order goes out. Most cloud kitchens fall in the State Licence bracket, though a high-volume operation running multiple brands from one facility can cross into Central Licence territory. Delivery platforms verify the FSSAI number during onboarding and will not activate a kitchen without it.
Turnover decides the category here just as it does elsewhere: up to ₹50 crore sits under State Licence, above that under Central. Because restaurants use water directly in food preparation, a water testing report from a recognised lab is a standard requirement, and municipal supply does not exempt you from submitting one.
The 2026 amendment specifically brought food trucks, carts, hawkers, and itinerant vendors under the redefined "Petty Food Business Operator" category. Vendors already registered under the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014 are now treated as registered under FSSAI as well, removing a grey area that had caused confusion for years. Where separate registration is still needed, Basic Registration (Form A) is the appropriate route for most stalls and carts.
Every grocery outlet, from a single kirana counter to a large supermarket chain, needs FSSAI cover. A shop under ₹1.5 crore turnover qualifies for Basic Registration; between ₹1.5 crore and ₹20 crore needs a State Licence; multi-state retail chains fall under Central. The certificate must be displayed at the shop, and the licence number should appear on customer bills.
Caterers, including mid-day meal contractors and banquet halls offering food service, register under the same turnover bands as restaurants: State Licence up to ₹20 crore, Central above that. Mid-day meal canteens crossing ₹1.5 crore in turnover also need to move out of Basic Registration.
Manufacturing attracts the fullest document set: constitution documents, a facility layout plan, list of products, equipment details, and a water test report, all filed under Form B. Production capacity above 2 MT a day, or turnover above ₹20 crore, pushes a manufacturer into Central Licence territory regardless of where the factory is located.
Anyone importing food into India needs a Central Licence, with no turnover-based exemption, alongside an Import Export Code from the DGFT and, for certain categories, lab testing reports for the imported product. Exporters additionally have to meet the food safety standards of the destination country on top of FSSAI compliance.
Zomato, Swiggy, Amazon, and Flipkart all verify the 14-digit FSSAI number before approving a food listing or activating a seller account. Getting your registration or licence number, even before the physical certificate arrives, is usually enough to start the platform onboarding process.
Protein powders, meal-replacement products, energy drinks, and other health foods fall under the Foods for Special Dietary Use category and typically require a Central Licence, along with compliance with FSSAI's dedicated 2022 regulations for health supplements and nutraceuticals. Any health claim printed on the label needs prior approval under those regulations.
Section 63 of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 makes manufacturing, selling, storing, distributing, or importing food without the required licence a punishable offence: imprisonment of up to six months and a fine of up to ₹5 lakh.
Modification: changes to your food product list, business address, mobile number, or email are handled through the "Modify" section on FoSCoS; a modification fee may apply depending on what is being changed.
Upgrading categories: if turnover crosses ₹1.5 crore, a Basic Registration holder must upgrade to a State Licence; crossing ₹50 crore means moving from State to Central. This has to happen within the same financial year the threshold is crossed, not at the next renewal cycle, since continuing to operate on a lower-category licence once you exceed its turnover limit is itself a compliance violation.
Transfer: FSSAI licences are not transferable between owners. If a business changes hands, the new owner applies fresh in their own name, and the previous holder surrenders the old certificate.
Multiple premises: one person or company can hold several FSSAI licences, one for each separate business location or activity.
LegalDev's compliance team handles FSSAI Basic Registration, State Licence, and Central Licence applications for food businesses across India, including document review before submission, correct KoB and category selection, and follow-up until the certificate is issued. If you are unsure which licence category applies to your business, or want your documents checked before they hit the FoSCoS portal, get in touch for a free consultation.