Food Safety and Standards Authority (FSSA) regulations required the Food Business Operators (FBOs) to file annual returns within 31st May of every year for the period April 1st to March 31st. The regulation further adds that a separate return shall be filed for every license issued under the Regulations, irrespective of whether the same Food Business Operator holds more than one license and any delay in filing return beyond 31st May of each year shall attract a penalty of Rs 100 per day of delay.

RAI had submitted a representation to Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) contending that retailers should be excluded from this regulation as they sell hundreds of food SKUs bought from numerous vendors across large geographical area and the process of filing a separate return for each license would be tedious. FSSAI agreed to our request and verbally confirmed that retailers, traders, restaurants and distributors need not comply with the said regulation.