FSSAI registration, food licences and municipal trade licences
Registrations and licences
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On demand
A food business may need both an FSSAI approval and a municipal trade licence. TheTaxCo checks each requirement against the activity and premises, prepares and files the applications, handles queries and tracks the obligations that continue after approval.
A kitchen, warehouse and online platform can have different licensing requirements even when they belong to the same brand. We map each activity and location before choosing the application route.
The food-licensing test
For new applications from 01-04-2026 in categories determined by turnover, the revised bands are registration up to ₹1.5 crore, State licence above ₹1.5 crore and up to ₹50 crore, and Central licence above ₹50 crore. Existing approvals need the migration treatment described by FSSAI. FSSAI FAQs dated 27-03-2026.
Turnover is not the only test. The current kind-of-business matrix contains specific routes, including Central licensing for importers and e-commerce platform food-business operators. A multi-State head office also needs to be distinguished from individual operating premises. Selling your own food through a marketplace does not make you the marketplace operator. FoSCoS revised eligibility matrix.
We review manufacturing, storage, distribution, retail and food-service activities separately where needed. The resulting note identifies the category, premises and supporting documents for each application, rather than using one turnover figure for the whole operation without explanation.
The municipal test
Municipal trade licensing follows the local authority’s listed trades and jurisdiction. For premises within GHMC, we check the relevant trade classification and application requirements against GHMC guidance. Premises outside its jurisdiction need the competent local body’s rules. GHMC trade-licence guidance.
A business outside FSSAI’s food categories may still carry on a municipally licensed trade. Conversely, a food business does not escape its FSSAI requirement merely because a particular municipal licence is inapplicable. The applicability note therefore gives a separate answer for each approval.
Preparation, evidence and inspection requirements
We need a description of the activity at each premises, turnover and capacity information, legal-entity particulars and occupation evidence. Layouts, equipment details, water-testing reports and technical documents are added according to the category rather than requested indiscriminately.
We prepare the application particulars, declarations and evidence index, identify document inconsistencies, and handle responses to queries. Our team coordinates the required technical specialists and laboratory evidence; the business arranges physical changes to its premises. A licence application does not certify that the premises meets every operational food-safety condition.
You receive the category and location map, application record, reference after authorised submission and approval certificate when granted. We maintain the continuing-compliance schedule, prepare applicable returns and modifications, and track the municipal renewal cycle. Approval and third-party marketplace acceptance remain decisions of those organisations.
Perpetual validity still has conditions
FSSAI’s 2026 framework provides perpetual validity unless the approval is suspended, cancelled or surrendered. Annual fees, applicable returns and operational compliance continue. Failure to pay the annual fee or submit an applicable return can cause deemed suspension; food-business activity must not continue during that suspension. 2026 amendment, regulation 2.1.7.
The municipal licence has its own renewal and modification cycle. We record both without carrying the FSSAI validity rule across to the local licence. A new activity, location or material change in the certificate particulars prompts a fresh review.
Questions before opening or expanding
Does one certificate cover all outlets? Coverage must be checked by premises and kind of business, including any head-office requirement. Send the location list before assuming the first outlet’s approval extends to another.
Our approval uses an older turnover category. We check its current status and migration route before deciding whether a new application or modification is needed. Do not surrender a valid approval solely because a threshold changed.
Will you guarantee marketplace onboarding? We prepare the required licensing record and help explain discrepancies. A platform can have additional onboarding requirements and controls its own decision.
What affects the timeline? The number of locations, category, technical evidence, existing approval status and inspection or query work. We prepare the application timetable and follow up outstanding evidence and authority queries.
See GST registration and brand protection for related launch requirements.
Email TheTaxCo, message us on WhatsApp or book a call. Share the food or trade activity, premises locations, approximate turnover and whether you are opening, expanding or updating an existing approval.