FSSAI Registration 2026: Fees, Process and Which Licence Your Shop Needs

If you sell food in India, from a kirana counter, a tea stall, a sweet shop or a home kitchen, you need FSSAI registration. That part has not changed. Almost everything else about it changed on 1 April 2026, and much of what you read online, and what many agents still tell shop owners, is out of date.

The two changes that matter: basic registration now covers food businesses with turnover up to ₹1.5 crore, up from ₹12 lakh, so nearly every small shop needs only the cheapest tier. And registrations and licences issued from that date have perpetual validity: there is no renewal. This guide explains which tier your shop needs, how to apply on FoSCoS yourself for ₹100 a year, and the one detail most shops miss, which is printing the FSSAI number on their bills.

What changed on 1 April 2026

FSSAI amended the Licensing and Registration Regulations in March 2026 and set new turnover thresholds from 1 April 2026. FSSAI's own FAQs, issued on 27 March 2026, confirm the new bands:

Three practical consequences:

1. A shop with ₹20 lakh to ₹1.5 crore turnover no longer needs a State licence. Existing licence holders are being moved to registration through FoSCoS, with no modification fee and the same number. Fees already paid for the licence are adjusted against the registration fee.
2. "FSSAI license renewal" is now mostly a non-issue for anything issued from 1 April 2026. Older certificates move to the new system as FSSAI completes the migration; check your status on FoSCoS rather than paying anyone to "renew".
3. Street vendors registered under the Street Vendors Act are now deemed to be registered under FSSAI. They still have to follow the hygiene rules.

Manufacturers have a second test besides turnover: production capacity. A sweet shop or small bakery that makes its own products can stay on basic registration only within the capacity limits set for its kind of business (around 100 kg or litres a day for most foods, with separate limits for milk and meat). The Kind of Business list on FoSCoS shows the exact limit when you apply.

Which FSSAI registration does your shop need?

Turnover here means food business turnover for the year. If you are just starting, use your honest estimate for the first year; FoSCoS asks you to declare it.

How to apply for FSSAI basic registration on FoSCoS

The whole process takes about 30 minutes if your documents are scanned.

Step 1: Check eligibility

Open foscos.fssai.gov.in and choose Apply for Licence/Registration. Select your state, then your kind of business (for example "Retailer" for a kirana store), and answer the turnover question. FoSCoS tells you whether you need Registration, a State Licence or a Central Licence.

Step 2: Sign up and open Form A

Sign up with your mobile number and email, verify the OTP and log in. Choose New Registration, which opens Form A (Form B is for licences).

Step 3: Fill in the details

• Name and address of the business exactly as you want it on the certificate
• Your name, address and contact details
• Kind of business and food categories you deal in: grains and pulses, edible oil, packaged snacks, dairy products, beverages and so on. List everything you sell.
• Turnover for the year
• Number of years you want to pay for

Step 4: Upload documents

For basic registration, keep these ready:

A partnership or company adds the partnership deed or incorporation certificate and an authorisation for the person applying.

Step 5: Pay the fee and submit

Pay ₹100 for each year you choose, online. You get an application reference number by SMS and email; use it to track the status on FoSCoS.

Step 6: Approval

Under the regulations, the registering authority either grants registration within 7 days or orders an inspection of your premises first, in which case the decision follows the inspection, within 30 days. Once approved, download the registration certificate from FoSCoS. It carries your 14-digit FSSAI registration number.

FSSAI registration fees in 2026

With perpetual validity, you can pay for any number of years at once, at any time of the year. Keep the fee paid: validity is perpetual, but the annual fee is still due.

Watch out for agents and lookalike websites

Search "FSSAI registration" and the first results include private websites with official-looking names that charge a "platform fee" or "consultancy fee" many times the ₹100 government fee for the same application. Some are legitimate consultants, some are not. The only official application site is foscos.fssai.gov.in, and FSSAI does not charge any processing fee above the government fee. If you do use an agent, insist that the application is filed in your name, with your mobile number and email, so that every OTP and certificate reaches you.

The FSSAI number on your bills

This is the requirement most small shops miss. An FSSAI order of 2021 made it mandatory for all food businesses to print their 14-digit FSSAI licence or registration number on cash receipts, purchase invoices, cash memos and bills. FSSAI and the Central Consumer Protection Authority have since written to states asking for special drives to enforce it, after complaints from consumers. The only documents exempted are system-generated government documents such as the GST e-way bill.

What this means at your counter:

• Every bill you give a customer should show the FSSAI number, whether it is a handwritten cash memo, a printed bill book page or a bill from an app.
• If you also issue a separate challan or delivery note, the number goes on that too.
• Display your registration certificate at a prominent place in the shop, where customers can see it.

If your bill book is already printed, add a rubber stamp with the number. If you bill on your phone, put the number in your shop details so it prints automatically. Our guide to bill format shows where it fits in the header, along with your GSTIN.

Penalties for running without FSSAI registration

The Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 treats food business without the required licence or registration seriously. Under Section 63, carrying on a food business without the required licence can be punished with imprisonment of up to six months and a fine of up to ₹5 lakh. In practice, a food safety officer who finds an unregistered shop usually issues an improvement notice and expects you to register at once, but the risk is not worth it for a ₹100 registration.

Separate penalties apply for selling unsafe, misbranded or sub-standard food, whether or not you are registered. Registration is the floor, not the ceiling.

FSSAI and your other registrations

FSSAI is one of a short list of registrations a food shop needs. A new kirana store typically needs:

• Shop and Establishment registration under your state's law
• FSSAI basic registration if it sells any food
• GST registration only once turnover crosses the GST registration limit (₹40 lakh for goods in most states), or earlier if you sell outside your state
• Udyam registration, optional but free and useful for bank loans; see our Udyam registration guide

Our guide on how to start a kirana store puts all of these in order, with costs.

FAQ

The bottom line

The 2026 changes made FSSAI cheaper and simpler for small shops: one ₹100-a-year registration up to ₹1.5 crore turnover, applied for in half an hour on FoSCoS, and never renewed. Apply in your own name on the official site, display the certificate, and make sure your 14-digit number is on every bill you hand over. That last step is the one most shops still forget.