Street food vendors registered with Municipal Corporations or Town Vending Committees under the Street Vendors’ Act, 2014 will be considered as deemed registered under FSSAI.
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SUPRABHAT DUTTA

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has approved the proposal for perpetual validity of registrations and licences obtained by businesses from the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to promote ease of doing business. This is among a series of comprehensive regulatory and procedural reforms approved by the Ministry following detailed deliberations with stakeholders and are aligned with the recommendations of the High-Level Committee on Non-Financial Regulatory Reforms constituted by the NITI Aayog.

Earlier, registrations and licences had to be renewed periodically. Under the revised framework, registrations and licences will have perpetual validity, eliminating the need for repeated renewals. “This reform will substantially reduce compliance costs, paperwork and the need for repeated interaction with licensing authorities for food business operators (FBOs), while improving continuity of operations. It will enable regulatory resources to focus more effectively on enforcement, monitoring and capacity-building activities,” an official statement said.

Meanwhile, effective April 1, the turnover threshold for registration will be increased from ₹12 lakhs to ₹1.5 crore, and for State licensing up to ₹50 crore, with Central licensing applicable beyond this limit. “This rationalisation is intended to empower and strengthen the role of State authorities by enabling them to focus more effectively on oversight, facilitation and enforcement of food safety regulations within their jurisdictions,” the statement added.

This wil lead to simpler compliance requirements, reduced paperwork and fees, elimination of pre-inspection, and instant registration for food business operators.

Dual compliance requirements

In a bid to address dual compliance requirements, street food vendors registered with Municipal Corporations or Town Vending Committees under the Street Vendors’ (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014 will be considered as deemed registered under FSSAI, the statement added. This measure will benefit more than 10 lakh street food vendors by eliminating the requirement for multiple registrations across departments. “The reform will significantly reduce the compliance burden and enable street food vendors to focus on their livelihood, hygiene and business operations,” it added.

A technology-enabled, dynamic risk-based inspection framework has also been put in place to incentivise compliant food business operators and reduce repetitive inspections. Inspections will be carried out based on defined risk factors such as risk associated with the nature of food commodity, past compliance record of the food business operator, performance during third-party audits, and inputs from enforcement and surveillance activities. This will ensure focused and transparent regulatory oversight, while reducing unnecessary compliance burden on compliant businesses.

Published on March 13, 2026