Food business operators (FBO) in Pune city will no longer have to visit the Food and Drugs Administration's office located in the congested bylanes of Guruwar Peth to register their business or apply for its licence.
PUNE: Food business operators (FBO) in Pune city will no longer have to visit the Food and Drugs Administration's office located in the congested bylanes of Guruwar Peth to register their business or apply for its licence.
The state Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) has launched an online facility, wherein those in the business of manufacture, sale, distribution or transport of any kind of food material across the state can simply log on to the designated website, furnish details and submit the fee on another designated portal to register get a licence for their business or renew their existing licence. The online facility was launched in the state on November 22.
Food business operators with an annual turnover of above Rs 12 crore must possess a licence and those who earn less than Rs 12 crore a year must get a registration certificate, as per the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.
"Earlier, food business operators in Pune had to come to our office in Guruwar Peth. Now, they can simply log on to www.foodlicensing.fssai.gov.in and sign up to avail of the online facility benefit to get their licence or to register," said Shashikant Kekare, joint commissioner (food), FDA, Pune division
Elaborating, Kekare said, "Once food business operators furnish their business related details after signing up on the website, they will get a username and password. Then the operator can fill up the form for seeking registration/licence and upload scanned copies of required documents on the website. After that they will have to log on to www.mahakosh.gov.in to submit the licence /registration fees either through internet banking or by simply using their debit or credit card number. After that, the operator needs to upload the online fee receipt on www.foodlicensing.fssai.gov.in and the work is done."
The Mahakosh website has been operational since April 1. "We have earned a revenue of Rs 1.58 lakh through the online submission of fees charged for seeking new registration/licence or towards their renewal. But, even though the facility for submitting the fee online has been there for the last eight months, all the documents and form filling exercise to seek licence/registration has been manual. From November 22, even that has gone online. Now, there is no need for operators to come to the FDA office for their work," said Dilip Sangat, assistant commissioner (food), FDA, Pune.
As per Section 31 (1) and Section 32 (2) of Food Safety and Standards Act 2006, it is mandatory for food business operators to obtain either a licence or a registration from the FDA. Operating food businesses without the mandatory licence or registration is punishable under section 63 of the act.
"Food business operators who have to renew their licence or registration by November 31 should file an application before it, failing which they will have to bear a fine of Rs 100 per day," said Sangat.
Since the enforcement of the new Food Safety and Standards Act in August 2011, FDA officials have allotted licences to 29,880 food business operators and registered 91,121 food business operators in Pune division, which includes Pune, Satara, Kolhapur, Solapur and Sangli.
Every business establishment that offers food services, including hotels, restaurants, fast food joints, hawkers, pan shops, tea stalls, vegetable and fruit vendors, meat shops, ration and grocery shops are inspected by the food safety officials (FSO) for licence or registration.
To avail online license/registration facility
* Food business operators (FBO) should have a valid personal email ID and a mobile number, which is active
* The name of the FBO should be spelt correctly in the application as it appears in the licence
* On successful submission of application, the system will generate a unique reference Id for the application for further processes like filing fees online
District Licence Registration
* Pune 15,291 24,449
* Satara 3,096 15,756
* Kolhapur 4,056 20,041
* Solapur 3,690 14,943
* Sangli 3,747 16,931
(Source: Food and Drugs Administration, Pune)
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