FSSAI Basic Registration Limit Raised to Rs 1.5 Crore

From 1 April 2026 the cheap FSSAI Basic Registration covers food businesses with annual turnover up to Rs 1.5 crore, raised from the old Rs 12 lakh limit. If your turnover sits between Rs 12 lakh and Rs 1.5 crore you were on a State Licence but now qualify for the simpler, cheaper Registration, and every FSSAI Licence and Registration is now perpetual with no fixed expiry.

This is a rule change article, not a how-to. For the step-by-step application itself, use how to apply for an FSSAI licence or registration. Below is what the new turnover slabs mean, whether you are reclassified, and exactly what to do now.

The Food Safety and Standards (Licensing and Registration of Food Businesses) Amendment Regulations, 2026 reset the turnover bands. Find your annual turnover in the table and read across.

The big winners are small food businesses with turnover between Rs 12 lakh and Rs 1.5 crore. Under the old rule they had to hold a State Licence. From 1 April 2026 they fall inside the Basic Registration band, which is the cheapest and lightest-touch FSSAI category.

Four reforms travel together in the 2026 amendment:

1. Higher Registration ceiling. Basic Registration now covers turnover up to Rs 1.5 crore, up from Rs 12 lakh. The Central Licence threshold moved from above Rs 20 crore to above Rs 50 crore.
2. Perpetual validity. FSSAI Licences and Registrations no longer carry a fixed expiry date and no longer need periodic renewal.
3. Deemed registration for street food vendors. A vendor already registered under the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014 is treated as registered with FSSAI, without a separate fresh application.
4. Risk-based inspections. Inspections and food safety audits are organised around a risk-based framework rather than uniform across every business.

Who is affected: home bakers, cloud kitchens, tiffin services, small manufacturers, traders and wholesalers, caterers, and street vendors. If your turnover is comfortably under Rs 1.5 crore, your compliance just got cheaper and simpler.

The parent law is the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 (FSS Act 2006), which created the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India and requires every Food Business Operator to hold either a Registration or a Licence based on size and risk.

The change is made by the Food Safety and Standards (Licensing and Registration of Food Businesses) Amendment Regulations, 2026, notified on 10 March 2026 and published in the Gazette of India on 11 March 2026. A separate FSSAI Order dated 13 March 2026 revised the turnover thresholds, with effect from 1 April 2026. The Registration deeming for street vendors is anchored in the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014.

This matters for the Right to Information Act, 2005 because FSSAI and the State Food Safety departments that grant and renew these registrations are public authorities. If your category change, migration, or renewal status is stuck, you can use an RTI to extract the file status. See RTI if your FSSAI licence is stuck.

Use this quick test on your most recent full-year turnover.

1. Turnover up to Rs 1.5 crore. You belong in Basic Registration. If you currently hold a State Licence only because your turnover crossed the old Rs 12 lakh line, you are now over-classified and can move to the cheaper Registration band.
2. Turnover between Rs 1.5 crore and Rs 50 crore. You stay in the State Licence band.
3. Turnover above Rs 50 crore. You move into, or remain in, the Central Licence band. Note that the old cut-off for Central Licence was above Rs 20 crore, so some mid-size businesses that were on a Central Licence may now fit the State Licence band.

If you operate in more than one state, run import or export, or run a notified large or specialised operation, a Central Licence can still apply regardless of turnover. Confirm your exact requirement on the FSSAI portal before you migrate.

1. Confirm your annual turnover from your latest filed accounts or GST returns, for the full financial year.
2. Match it to the new slab table above to find your correct FSSAI category from 1 April 2026.
3. Log in to the FSSAI FoSCoS portal and open your existing Registration or Licence record.
4. Compare your current category to the correct one. If you hold a State Licence but now sit under the Rs 1.5 crore Registration ceiling, you are eligible to move down.
5. Apply the change through FoSCoS using the modification or category-change route, not a brand new application. The detailed screens are in how to apply for an FSSAI licence or registration.
6. Do not let a perpetual record lapse by neglect. Even though there is no fixed expiry now, file any annual return and pay any annual fee the rules still require, so your record stays active.
7. If the portal will not let you migrate or the file stalls, file an RTI with the State Food Safety department asking for the status and reason. Draft it with the AI RTI Drafter.

If you are below the old Rs 12 lakh line and were never registered, you still need a Basic Registration. Being small does not make you exempt.

• Photo identity and address proof of the proprietor, partners, or directors
• Proof of business address, such as a rent agreement or utility bill
• Turnover proof, such as the latest GST returns or audited accounts, to evidence your slab
• Food product or category list for your business
• For a category change, your existing FSSAI Registration or Licence number
• For street vendors, the vending certificate or registration under the Street Vendors Act, 2014

The exact upload list varies by category and state. Treat this as a checklist, then confirm against the live FoSCoS form.

• Assuming you must renew on the old clock. Renewal by calendar is gone. Chasing a renewal you no longer owe wastes money and time.
• Staying on a costly State Licence out of habit when your turnover is under Rs 1.5 crore and you now qualify for Basic Registration.
• Treating perpetual validity as do nothing. Perpetual is not the same as no obligations. Annual returns and fees, where the rules require them, still apply.
• Street vendors applying afresh when their Street Vendors Act, 2014 registration already gives them deemed FSSAI registration.
• Reading turnover loosely. Use your full financial year figure, not a partial or peak month, so you land in the correct slab.
• Ignoring multi-state or import operations, which can pull you into a Central Licence regardless of turnover.

If your turnover is under Rs 1.5 crore, you can move from a State Licence to a Basic Registration through the modification route on FoSCoS. Do this as a category change, not by cancelling and reapplying from scratch, so you keep continuity.

No. The 2026 amendment made Licences and Registrations perpetual. They stay valid until surrendered, cancelled, or suspended. You no longer file a calendar based renewal, though annual returns and fees can still apply.

If you are registered under the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014, you are treated as registered with FSSAI under the 2026 amendment, so you do not file a fresh FSSAI application for that.

The amendment was notified on 10 March 2026 and published in the Gazette on 11 March 2026. The FSSAI Order dated 13 March 2026 set the revised turnover thresholds, effective 1 April 2026.

File an RTI with the State Food Safety department or FSSAI asking for the current status of your file and the reason for delay. Use the AI RTI Drafter, and if the reply is unsatisfactory, the First Appeal Builder and PIO Reply Checker.

The 2026 amendment moves inspections to a risk-based framework rather than a uniform one. Your category and risk profile, not just turnover, shape how you are inspected and audited.

• Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, FSSAI: https://fssai.gov.in
• Food Safety and Standards (Licensing and Registration of Food Businesses) Amendment Regulations, 2026, notified 10 March 2026, Gazette of India 11 March 2026, FSSAI: https://fssai.gov.in
• FSSAI Order dated 13 March 2026 revising turnover thresholds, effective 1 April 2026, FSSAI: https://fssai.gov.in
• Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014

• How to apply for an FSSAI licence or registration
• RTI if your FSSAI licence is stuck
• The RTI Playbook
• AI RTI Drafter
• First Appeal Builder
• PIO Reply Checker
• Timeline Tracker