Staying compliant with your FSSAI State Licence
What you must do to keep an FSSAI State Licence valid: pay the annual fee, file the annual return, display the licence, keep to Schedule 4 hygiene, and update the licence when your premises, ownership or food scope changes. Under the perpetual-validity regime the licence stays live only while these are met.
Applies once you hold: FSSAI State Licence (FoSCoS) — mid-size food business licence
Recurring — on a schedule
These come due on a cycle. Tracked, they drive your deadlines and reminders.
Pay the annual licence fee
A State Licence carries an annual fee (commonly in the ₹2,000–₹5,000 range depending on capacity/category) paid via FoSCoS. Under the perpetual regime there is no periodic renewal, but missing the annual fee triggers deemed suspension — operating while suspended is an offence. Confirm your exact fee slab.
- If you miss it:
- Automatic (deemed) suspension of the licence; operating while suspended is an offence.
- Keep as evidence:
- FoSCoS payment receipt
File the annual return (Form D-1)
Under Regulation 2.1.13, a manufacturer or importer who holds an FSSAI licence must file the Form D-1 annual return on FoSCoS on or before 31 May for the previous financial year. Licensees engaged in manufacturing milk or milk products instead file half-yearly returns in Form D-2 (for the 1 April–30 September and 1 October–31 March periods), within a month of each period's end.
- If you miss it:
- A delay beyond 31 May attracts a penalty of Rs 100 per day of delay (Regulation 2.1.13(3)).
- Keep as evidence:
- FoSCoS return acknowledgement
Standing — always true
What an inspector checks at any time. Keep these in order continuously.
Display the licence and FSSAI number
Keep the State Licence (or FoSCoS display board) visible at the premises at all times, and show the 14-digit FSSAI number on packaging, menus, invoices and your website. Delivery aggregators also verify the number at onboarding.
- If you miss it:
- Non-display is a violation observed in inspections.
Maintain Schedule 4 hygiene and food-safety conditions
Keep the premises, storage, water, pest-control and handling to the FSSAI Schedule 4 sanitary and hygiene requirements (Regulation 2.1.2), under the Part applicable to your kind of business. Schedule 4 also requires supervisory staff to hold appropriate food-hygiene qualifications and skills (met via FSSAI's FoSTaC training) for the relevant kinds of business. These are what a Food Safety Officer checks on inspection.
- Keep as evidence:
- Cleaning/pest-control records, staff medical fitness, FoSTaC certificate where applicable
Keep your declared food categories in sync
The licence covers only the food products/categories and capacity you declared. Adding products, activities or capacity requires modifying the licence before you start — operating outside declared scope is a violation.
On an event
Triggered when something changes (premises, ownership, turnover).
Modify on premises / ownership / constitution change
A change of premises, ownership, capacity or business constitution requires modifying the licence on FoSCoS. Under Regulation 2.1.9 the Licensing Authority must be informed of any change to the information on which the licence was granted (including expansion or change of capacity) before the change occurs, and a change that alters the licence certificate needs prior approval or endorsement.
Track this on your dashboard
Add what you hold to your wallet and KaamKar computes your personal deadlines, keeps a standing-obligations checklist, and alerts you when the rules change.
Sign in to track complianceKaamKar is an independent guide, not a government website, and this is not legal or tax advice. Always confirm against the official source linked above.