How to Apply for FSSAI Registration or Food Licence Online

Anyone who makes, stores, transports, distributes, sells or serves food in India needs either an FSSAI registration or an FSSAI licence. That includes home kitchens, tea stalls, cloud kitchens, traders, wholesalers, cold stores and online sellers. The only question is which of the three categories applies to you.

That question got a different answer on 1 April 2026, when FSSAI's revised turnover thresholds took effect. A lot of online guidance still quotes the old ₹12 lakh and ₹20 crore limits. They no longer apply to new applications.

Everything is filed on FoSCoS, the Food Safety Compliance System at foscos.fssai.gov.in. Here is the process from start to finish.

Step 1: Work out your category

Under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, small operators get a registration and larger or riskier operators get a licence. The licence can be state or central. FSSAI's order of 13 March 2026, issued under the Licensing and Registration Amendment Regulations notified on 10 March 2026, set the following bands:

The fees come from the eligibility and fee sheet on FoSCoS, which was updated for the new thresholds. A few categories are different. Itinerant hawkers and Anganwadi centres pay nothing. Some railway and central-government catering units have their own fee lines. Check your kind of business on the sheet before you pay.

Turnover is only half the test. Some activities have a fixed category whatever their size:

• Central licence regardless of turnover: importers; e-commerce food businesses; trader or merchant exporters, and manufacturer exporters making to the importing country's standards; 100% export-oriented units; manufacturers of proprietary food, health supplements and nutraceuticals, Ayurveda aahara and non-specified foods; radiation processing; food businesses on airport, seaport and central-government premises; and the head office of any business operating in two or more states.
• State licence at minimum: grain, cereal and pulses milling units, at any turnover; caterers up to ₹50 crore (caterers cannot use basic registration); clubs, canteens and food-vending establishments above ₹1.5 crore; hotels up to four-star.
• Five-star hotels and above need a central licence.

If you fall in two categories at the same premises, take the higher one. If you have several premises, each one needs its own registration or licence.

Street vendors

From the 2026 amendment, street food vendors, hawkers, food carts and food trucks registered under the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014 are deemed registered under FSSAI. They do not need to apply separately. They must still meet the hygiene requirements in Schedule 4 of the Licensing and Registration Regulations.

Step 2: Get the documents ready

For basic registration (Form A) the list is short:

• photograph of the proprietor, partner or director
• identity proof: Aadhaar, PAN, passport, voter ID or driving licence
• proof of possession of the premises: a rent agreement, an electricity bill, or a sale deed
• for a partnership, LLP or company, the constitution document (deed, incorporation certificate)

For a state or central licence (Form B) add the following, depending on your kind of business:

• list of directors, partners or proprietor with addresses and contact details
• layout plan of the processing or manufacturing unit, showing the rooms and operations
• list of equipment and machinery, with capacity
• water analysis report from a recognised laboratory, where water is used as an ingredient or in processing
• a food safety management system plan
• source of milk or meat, where relevant, and a recall plan for manufacturers
• nomination of a responsible person, for companies, which is the person accountable for compliance
• import-export code, for importers and exporters
• NOC or registration from the municipality or panchayat where the state requires one

Upload clear scans. The commonest reason for a query is a premises document that does not match the address in the form, or a bill in someone else's name with no NOC from them.

Step 3: Apply on FoSCoS

1. Open foscos.fssai.gov.in and choose Apply for Licence/Registration.
2. Select the state and enter your premises details. The portal sends state-level registrations and licences to the authority for that area.
3. Select your kind of business: manufacturer, trader, retailer, food service and so on, with the sub-category and food product categories. Enter your turnover. FoSCoS tells you whether you need registration, a state licence or a central licence. If you need more than one kind of business at the same premises, select them all now.
4. Create your login. FoSCoS uses the registered mobile number and email.
5. Fill Form A (registration) or Form B (licence): business name and constitution, premises address, food categories, contact person, and for manufacturers the installed capacity.
6. Upload documents from the lists above.
7. Choose the number of years and pay the fee online. Since the 2026 reforms you can pay for any number of years at once, at any time of year.
8. Note the application reference number. Use it to track the application and answer any query.

What happens next

• Basic registration: the 2026 reforms remove pre-inspection for registration and aim at instant registration. In most cases the certificate comes back quickly, unless the registering authority raises a query.
• Licence: the licensing authority scrutinises the documents, often raises a query, and may inspect the premises before granting. A complete application gets through much faster than one that goes back and forth. Plan for weeks, not days.

Answer every query through the portal, within the time shown against it. An application left unanswered is rejected, and you start again with a fresh fee.

Step 4: After the certificate issues

Getting the number is the start. Here is what the certificate commits you to:

• Display the registration or licence certificate, or the Food Safety Display Board, prominently at the premises.
• Print the 14-digit FSSAI number on your labels, and show it on invoices, menus, delivery-app listings and your website as the rules require for your format.
• Keep paying the annual fee. Perpetual validity removes the renewal application, not the fee.
• Licensed businesses must have a trained food safety supervisor and keep the records their licence conditions require. Licensed manufacturers and importers also file an annual return on FoSCoS.
• File a modification whenever something on the certificate changes: a new product category, a change in partners or directors, a change of address within the same premises, or a capacity change. A new premises is not a modification. It needs its own application.

Your other registrations follow from the same business. A food business crossing the GST threshold needs GST registration. Udyam registration gets you MSME benefits. In Rajasthan the shop or restaurant usually also needs Shop and Establishment registration. If you are building a packaged-food brand, file the trademark before you print the labels.

Perpetual validity, and existing licence holders

Under the 2026 amendment, a registration or licence issued on or after 1 April 2026 remains valid until it is suspended, cancelled or surrendered. There is no renewal cycle any more. That also applies to applications that were still being processed on 1 April 2026, and to Tatkal licences.

FSSAI's FAQs of 27 March 2026 deal with businesses licensed under the old thresholds:

• the revised thresholds apply to new applications from 1 April 2026. Existing operators get time to migrate on FoSCoS;
• migration is done by the system on your self-declaration. It needs no approval from the licensing authority and carries no modification fee;
• your licence number does not change on migration;
• if you hold a state licence and now qualify for registration, the fee you have already paid is adjusted against the registration fee.

So a ₹3 crore restaurant on a central or state licence does not have to give it up, and an ₹80 lakh bakery on a state licence can move down to registration without losing anything.

Timeline at a glance

What if it goes wrong?

• You applied in the wrong category. If FoSCoS or the authority finds that your turnover or kind of business needs a higher category, the application is rejected or sent back. Apply again in the correct category. Fees paid on a rejected application are generally not refunded, so check the eligibility sheet first.
• Your turnover crosses ₹1.5 crore or ₹50 crore. Apply on FoSCoS to move up a category before you cross the line, not after. Trading on a registration when you need a licence counts as operating without a licence.
• A query was raised and you missed it. The application is rejected. File a fresh one, and this time answer through the portal, attaching exactly the document asked for.
• You have been operating without registration. Apply now. Under Section 63 of the Act, carrying on a food business that needs a licence without one is punishable with imprisonment of up to six months and a fine of up to ₹5 lakh. In practice, the usual trigger is an inspection or a delisting by a delivery platform, and a business that has already applied is in a far better position.
• An improvement notice is served after inspection. Under Section 32, the food safety officer can issue an improvement notice listing what to fix and the time allowed. Fix it and report back. If you do not comply, the licence can be suspended and then cancelled, and an appeal against that order lies to the Commissioner of Food Safety.
• The delivery platform delisted you for an expired licence. For an older certificate issued before 1 April 2026, check its status on FoSCoS and whether it is due for migration. For a current one, make sure the annual fee has been paid for the year in question.
• You opened a second outlet on the first licence. Each premises needs its own registration or licence. Apply for the new premises separately. A modification of the existing licence will not cover it.