FSSAI licence for distributors, wholesalers and traders.
Yes, traders need FSSAI: distributors, wholesalers and resellers of food each have a row on FoSCoS, and turnover decides the tier. What sets the trade apart from a shop is the duty that comes with supplying other businesses: a written recall plan, and records that can trace a batch.
A distributor or wholesaler is tiered by annual turnover: Registration up to ₹1.5 crore at ₹100 a year, State Licence from ₹1.5 crore to ₹50 crore at ₹5,000, and Central above ₹50 crore at ₹7,500. Trading in imported food, or across two or more states, brings in a Central licence as well.
Which FSSAI licence a distributor or wholesaler needs.
| Annual turnover | You need | Government fee (to FSSAI) | Our filing fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Up to ₹1.5 crore | Registration | ₹100 a year | ₹4,500 |
| ₹1.5 crore – ₹50 crore | State Licence | ₹5,000 a year | ₹12,500 |
| Above ₹50 crore | Central Licence | ₹7,500 a year | ₹19,500 |
Per FSSAI’s kind-of-business table updated 01.04.2026. Our fee is one-time plus GST. Operating in two or more States/UTs adds a head-office Central Licence (₹7,500 a year).
What to choose on FoSCoS
- Wholesaler — as listed on FoSCoS: food procured in bulk and sold on to resellers or retailers
- Distributor: food moved from the manufacturer's place onward to final delivery or sale
- Retailer, if you also sell to the end consumer from the same premises
- Importer (Central, any turnover), if you bring in the goods yourself rather than buying from an Indian importer
- Repacker or relabeller, if you repack into smaller sizes or sell product made for you under your own brand
2026 tablePer FSSAI’s table updated 01.04.2026. We confirm your kind of business before filing.
What a distributor or wholesaler has to get right.
Each point comes with the regulation, order or FSSAI document behind it. Where FSSAI hasn’t spelt something out, we say it’s our reading.
Turnover decides the tier
The Wholesaler and Distributor rows use turnover alone: up to ₹1.5 crore Registration (₹100), ₹1.5–50 crore State Licence (₹5,000), above ₹50 crore Central (₹7,500). Production capacity and vehicle counts no longer appear in any row.
KOB table 01.04.2026Wholesale supply means a recall plan
Anyone engaged in manufacture, import or wholesale supply must hold an up-to-date recall plan. Retailers are exempt, but a distributor selling to retailers is supplying wholesale. That is our reading, and the one FoodRaksha applies. If a manufacturer recalls a batch, you are the link that has to find where it went.
FSS (Food Recall Procedure) Regulations 2017, reg. 7(1)Distribution records you have to keep
Licensed businesses keep records of storage, distribution, pest control and product recall for one year or the product's shelf life, whichever is longer. For a distributor, the invoice trail of which retailer got which batch is that record.
Schedule 4, Part II, 8.2Daily production and FIFO registers aren't your duty
The June 2026 amendment confined daily production records to manufacturers. FSSAI's publicity described FIFO/FEFO record-keeping as confined to manufacturers too. You still have to keep stock in a condition fit to sell; the formal registers are now a manufacturer's duty.
Schedule 2, Annexure 3, condition 8 as substituted 2026; PIB 26.06.2026One licence per godown
A licence covers one premises. If you run two godowns, or a depot in another district, each needs its own application. Food business premises in two or more States/UTs also require a head-office Central Licence at ₹7,500 a year.
FoSCoS licensing; KOB table 01.04.2026, Head Office rowRepacking turns you into a manufacturer-type business
Breaking bulk into your own packets is repacking, a kind of business under the manufacturing heads. It brings the full label rules with it, plus Legal Metrology packer registration within 90 days of pre-packing (₹500, one-time).
KOB table 01.04.2026 (Repacker); Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules 2011, rule 27Licensed: hygiene, people and the board
On a State or Central Licence, Schedule 4 Part II applies: pest control systems, yearly medical fitness for food handlers, and one FoSTaC-trained supervisor for every 25 handlers. Every premises displays the Food Safety Display Board with its licence number.
Schedule 4, Part II 9.2 and 10.1.2; FSSAI orders 02.11.2017 and 19.09.2018What you’ll be asked for.
On top of the owner’s photo ID and address proof. FoSCoS asks per kind of business, so we send you the exact list for yours before you gather anything.
Full documents checklist- Form A (Registration) or Form B (State or Central Licence), with the Wholesaler and/or Distributor kind of business ticked
- Proof of possession of each godown or depot you apply for
- List of food categories and brands you trade
- For a licence: constitution of the business (partnership deed, MoA/AoA) and a nomination of the responsible person for companies
- Written recall plan: contacts, traceability of batches to customers, and how you pull and hold stock
- Pest control contract and records for the godown (licensed premises)
The authorities around this business.
FSSAI isn’t the only door you’ll knock on. These are the bodies that usually matter for this kind of business — each links to what it does and when you’ll meet it.
See the full regulatory map
Common mistakes with distributor or wholesaler licences.
Selling in bulk to resellers is wholesale, which is its own row. The kind of business on your certificate should match the invoices an officer can ask for.
The recall duty covers wholesale supply as well as manufacture. A distributor who can't say which retailers received a batch has no recall plan in practice.
A licence covers the premises written on it. A second godown, even across the road, is a second application.
Nothing on the certificate changes when turnover grows, but above ₹1.5 crore the table requires a State Licence. Trading on the wrong licence is treated as trading without one (FSS Act s.63: up to six months and ₹5 lakh).
Your distributor or wholesaler licence in three steps.
Most of the work is ours. Where something needs you, it says so — and nothing is filed without your approval.
- 1
Book a free 10-minute check
Tell us what you do. We confirm the exact kind of business, the licence and the full cost — including the exceptions most people miss.
Free · no obligation - 2
We file it on your login
You get a checklist for your business, we check every document, and we file on your own FoSCoS account. The government fee goes from you to FSSAI.
Fixed fee, in writing - 3
We keep you licensed
Fees, returns, tests, medicals, labels and inspections — dated, tracked and handled, with a short status note each month.
Ready any day
Our promises, in writing
You get the fee before we start. If the scope changes, you hear it from us before it costs you.
We file on your own FoSCoS account with your approval. Nothing to hand back if you ever leave.
Straight to FSSAI on FoSCoS. It never passes through us.
Each requirement comes with the regulation behind it — and our readings are marked as ours.
FSSAI licence for distributor or wholesaler: questions
Is FSSAI licence mandatory for traders?
Yes. Buying and selling food is a food business, and FoSCoS has rows for wholesalers, distributors and retailers. Every trader needs at least a Registration. Running a food business without a licence or registration is punishable under section 63 of the FSS Act with up to six months' imprisonment and a fine of up to ₹5 lakh.
What is the FSSAI license fee for a distributor?
It depends on turnover. Up to ₹1.5 crore a year it's a Registration at ₹100 a year. From ₹1.5 crore to ₹50 crore it's a State Licence at ₹5,000 a year, and above ₹50 crore Central at ₹7,500. These are government fees, paid by you on FoSCoS. There is no renewal fee any more, but the annual fee must be paid each year.
What are the FSSAI license for wholesale fees?
The same turnover bands apply: ₹100 a year for Registration (up to ₹1.5 crore), ₹5,000 for a State Licence (₹1.5–50 crore) and ₹7,500 for Central (above ₹50 crore). Older capacity-based fees of ₹2,000 and ₹3,000 no longer exist in the table updated 01.04.2026.
Do I need an FSSAI license as a reseller?
Yes. A reseller is a food business. If you sell to other businesses you are a wholesaler or distributor, and if you sell to consumers you are a retailer, each tiered by turnover. If you resell through an online marketplace, the platform must also display your licence number on the listing.
Does a distributor need a recall plan?
Our reading is yes. Regulation 7(1) of the Recall Regulations 2017 requires anyone in manufacture, import or wholesale supply to keep an up-to-date recall plan, and a distributor supplying retailers is in wholesale supply. Retailers are exempt only if they do nothing else. The plan should show how you trace each batch to the customers who received it.
Which licence does a trader of imported food need?
If you import the goods yourself, you need a Central Licence under the Importer kind of business at any turnover, tied to your IEC. If you buy imported food from an Indian importer and resell it, you are a wholesaler, distributor or retailer, tiered by turnover like any other trader.
Is FSSAI registration required for trading food across states?
Each premises needs its own licence or registration in the state where it sits. If you run food business premises in two or more States/UTs, you also declare a head office, which takes its own Central Licence at ₹7,500 a year. The row doesn't say whether selling into another state from a single godown counts. Our reading is that it turns on premises, but confirm with the licensing authority.
Get your distributor or wholesaler licensed — and keep it that way.
Book a free 10-minute check. A person — not a bot — calls you back within working hours, tells you exactly which licence you need and what it costs, before you commit to anything.
- Government fee paid by you, directly to FSSAI
- Filed under your own FoSCoS login
- Fixed fee, confirmed in writing before we start
Not ready to talk? Get the free 2026 checklist or find your licence yourself.