Registrations and Licenses no longer require Renewal - FSSAI

• Dushyant Sharma
• 16 Mar 2026
• 70 Views

On 13 March 2026, food industry regulator Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) said its registration certificates and licenses shall remain valid forever. There will be no requirement for renewals anymore. The regulator has taken this initiative to boost ease of doing business. 

In a statement, FSSAI informed that its nodal health ministry gave the greenlight for several reforms, including an increase in turnover threshold for registration from Rs. 12 lakhs to Rs. 1.5 crore. Street food vendors who are registered with their concerned municipal corporations shall be considered as deemed registered with the food industry regulator. 

FSSAI stated, "In a significant step towards promoting ease of doing business while ensuring robust food safety standards, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has approved a series of comprehensive regulatory and procedural reforms.”

Ministry of Health & Family Welfare approves Major Regulatory Reforms to promote Ease of Doing Business and strengthen food safety framework. #FSSAIRelease pic.twitter.com/xI9PywuvqH

— FSSAI (@fssaiindia) March 13, 2026

After detailed deliberations with states, union territories and stakeholders, the reforms were finalized. These reforms align with the recommendations provided by the High-Level Committee on Non-Financial Regulatory Reforms constituted by the Niti Aayog.

FSSAI mentioned, "To reduce regulatory burden, the proposal for perpetual validity of FSSAI registrations and licences has been approved. Earlier, registrations and licences were required to be renewed periodically. Under the revised framework, registrations and licences will have perpetual validity, eliminating the need for repeated renewals.”

Earlier, the registration certificates and licenses were granted by FSSAI for one year to five years. Before the current certificate/license’s expiry, renewal was required to ensure continuous, interrupted operations. While applying for renewal, the prescribed fee had to be paid. 

It was highlighted by the regulator that the latest reform will significantly reduce compliance costs, paperwork and the requirement for repeated communication with the licensing authorities for food business operators while enhancing the operations’ continuity.

This move will allow the regulatory resources to give more focus to activities pertaining to enforcement, monitoring and capacity-building. The turnover threshold for registration will be increased from Rs 12 lakhs to Rs 1.5 crore from 1 April 2026 onwards, according to FSSAI, among other reforms. For turnover up to Rs 50 crore, the state licensing will be necessary. After that, the central licensing will be applicable for the food business operators.

By allowing state authorities to concentrate more efficiently on monitoring, facilitating and enforcing food safety laws within their jurisdictions, this rationalization aims to strengthen and empower their role and responsibilities.

The measure will improve operations for food business owners, especially micro and small businesses, by eliminating pre-inspection, reducing paperwork and fees, simplifying compliance requirements and enabling instant registration.

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, shall be considered registered with FSSAI.

The regulator stated, "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 compliance burden and enable street food vendors to focus on their livelihoods, hygiene and business operations.”

Also, a tech-enabled flexible risk-based inspection framework has been set up to reward FBOs that follow the rules. This framework will use specific risk factors to decide when to do inspections. These factors include the type of food being sold, the FBOs' history of following the rules, how well they did in third-party audits and inputs from enforcement and surveillance activities.

According to FSSAI, "These reforms represent a decisive step towards reinforcing the government's commitment to ensuring safe food for citizens while promoting a transparent, efficient and business-friendly regulatory environment for the food industry.”

Source: Economic Times