New Delhi, March 13 The food regulator, FSSAI, said on Friday that its registration certificates and licenses will be valid indefinitely, and there will be no need for renewals, as part of its efforts to bring reforms towards ease of doing business.
In a statement, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) informed that its nodal health ministry has approved many reforms, including an increase in the turnover threshold for registration from Rs 12 lakhs to Rs 1.5 crore, effective March 10.
Street food vendors registered with municipal corporations will be considered as deemed registered with the FSSAI.
"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," FSSAI said.
The reforms have been finalized following detailed deliberations with states/UTs and stakeholders. The reforms are aligned with the recommendations of the High-Level Committee on Non-Financial Regulatory Reforms constituted by the Niti Aayog.
"To reduce regulatory burden, the proposal for perpetual validity of FSSAI registrations and licenses has been approved. Earlier, registrations and licenses were required to be renewed periodically. Under the revised framework, registrations and licenses will have perpetual validity, eliminating the need for repeated renewals," the regulator said.
Previously, registrations and licenses were issued for one to five years.
FSSAI highlighted that this reform will substantially reduce compliance costs, paperwork, and the need for repeated interaction with licensing authorities for food business operators (FBOs) while improving the continuity of operations.
It will enable regulatory resources to focus more effectively towards enforcement, monitoring, and capacity-building activities.
Among other reforms, FSSAI said that effective from April 1, 2026, the "turnover threshold for registration has been increased from Rs 12 lakhs to Rs 1.5 crore".
State licensing will be required up to a turnover of Rs 50 crore, with Central licensing applicable beyond this limit.
This rationalization 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.
"For food business operators, particularly micro and small enterprises, this measure will result in simpler compliance requirements, reduced paperwork and fees, elimination of pre-inspection, and instant registration, thereby improving ease of operations," FSSAI said.
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.
"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," the regulator said.
Further, a technology-enabled, dynamic risk-based inspection framework has been put in place to incentivize compliant FBOs.
Under this framework, inspections will be carried out based on defined risk factors, such as the risk associated with the nature of the food commodity, the past compliance record of the FBOs, performance during third-party audits, and inputs from enforcement and surveillance activities.
"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," FSSAI said.