FSSAI licence for a meat, chicken or fish shop.
A meat, chicken or fish shop is a Retailer on FoSCoS, so it needs a Registration at ₹100 a year up to ₹1.5 crore turnover, a State Licence at ₹5,000 up to ₹50 crore and a Central Licence above that. Meat also has its own hygiene schedule, Schedule 4 Part IV, on top of the general rules.
FSSAI’s kind-of-business table updated 01.04.2026 names "Fish/Meat/Poultry shop" under Retailer. Up to ₹1.5 crore turnover: Registration, ₹100 a year. ₹1.5–50 crore: State Licence, ₹5,000. Above ₹50 crore: Central Licence, ₹7,500. Slaughtering birds or animals yourself, or making meat products, puts you on the Slaughtering Unit or Meat Processing rows, which use the same turnover bands.
Which FSSAI licence a meat, chicken or fish shop 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
- Retailer (Trade/Retail) — FSSAI's own definition lists "Fish/ Meat/Poultry shop" as an example; this covers selling fresh meat, chicken, fish and eggs to consumers
- Slaughtering Unit — transporting, stunning, butchering and dressing live animals or poultry birds
- Meat Processing — further processing slaughtered animals or birds into meat and meat products, with packaging and storage
- Fish and fish products — handling and processing fish, manufacturing fish products, packing and storage
- E-Commerce (Central) — only if you sell through your own website or app
2026 tablePer FSSAI’s table updated 01.04.2026. We confirm your kind of business before filing.
What a meat, chicken or fish shop 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.
Meat comes from an abattoir
FSSAI's product standard defines meat as the edible parts of a food animal "slaughtered in an abattoir". A slaughter house is "a licensed place" where animals are slaughtered hygienically, with ante-mortem and post-mortem inspection by a veterinarian. Keep purchase bills that show where your stock was slaughtered. If you slaughter birds at the shop, that's the Slaughtering Unit kind of business, not Retailer, and your local body's rules apply as well.
FSSR 2011, 2.5.1 (definitions of meat and slaughter house)Schedule 4 Part IV covers selling meat
Part IV of Schedule 4 sets hygienic and sanitary practices for businesses "engaged in manufacture, processing, storing and selling of Meat and Meat Products". Selling is in the title, so a shop is inside it, alongside the general hygiene rules in Parts I and II.
Licensing Regulations 2011, Schedule 4, Part IV (title)Medical check every 12 months
People handling meat need a medical examination every 12 months. Keep the certificates on file for each handler. They're among the first things an officer asks for.
Schedule 4, Part IV; Part II 10.1.2Keep it cold, and don't wrap it in newspaper
FSSAI's guidance says meat should be stored at 4 °C for short-term storage and at −18 °C or below for long-term storage, and chilled meat eaten within 2 to 4 days. It tells consumers to buy from licensed or registered shops that have refrigerators and never to accept meat wrapped in newspaper. In practice that's what an inspector looks for too.
FSSAI Guidance Note on meat safety (03.02.2021)Eggs have a standard of their own
Fresh eggs are eggs that "have not been washed or dry-cleaned", with a clean, sound shell free from cracks, leaks and faecal contamination. At ambient temperature (30 ± 5 °C) they are to be consumed within 2 weeks of laying. Under refrigeration (2–8 °C) the limit is 5 weeks.
FSSR 2011, 2.5.3.1 (Fresh eggs)Fish: formaldehyde has limits
Standard 2.6.2 sets limits for naturally occurring formaldehyde in fish by group. For example, Group I marine finfish, crustaceans and molluscs are allowed at most 4.0 mg/kg. The product standards in 2.6.1 cover frozen and processed fish: frozen shrimp, fillets, salted, canned and smoked products and more.
FSSR 2011, 2.6.1 and 2.6.2 (Chapter 2.6, Version 3, 07.05.2025)The high-risk audit is for manufacturers, not shops
Meat, fish and eggs are high-risk food categories. The mandatory annual third-party audit applies to Central-licensed manufacturers in those categories, not to a neighbourhood shop. A shop still has to display the Food Safety Display Board, and FSSAI publishes a meat-sector version.
Auditing Regulations 2018, reg. 8; FSSAI order RCD-02001/9/2021, 02.05.2022; FSSAI order 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- Purchase bills or supply agreement showing your meat or poultry comes from a licensed slaughter house
- Medical fitness certificates for every person handling meat, renewed every 12 months
- Proof of the premises (rent agreement, sale deed or electricity bill)
- Details of refrigeration: chillers or freezers and display cabinets
- For licence applicants processing meat: source of raw material, layout plan with operation-wise areas, and equipment list with installed capacity
- NOC from the municipality or local body, where your licence application asks for it (listed in Annexure 2)
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
Food Safety and Standards Authority of IndiaFoSCoSCommissioner of Food SafetyDesignated Officer and Food Safety Officers
FSSAI-notified, NABL-accredited food laboratoriesFoSTaC training partnersFSSAI-recognised auditing agenciesLegal Metrology DepartmentCPCBAdjudicating Officer and Food Safety Appellate TribunalMunicipal corporation or local bodyState Pollution Control BoardCommon mistakes with meat, chicken or fish shop licences.
The Retailer kind of business covers food bought in and sold on. Slaughtering live birds on the premises is the Slaughtering Unit activity. A licence only covers what's written on it, so the wrong kind of business counts as trading without one.
Meat hanging at room temperature all day, or fish kept on melting ice, is the single most visible failure in a meat shop. It's also the easiest to fix.
Washed eggs no longer meet the fresh-egg definition in 2.5.3.1, which describes eggs that have not been washed or dry-cleaned. Clean the trays, not the eggs.
Meat is the one sector where the 12-month medical is written into the hygiene schedule. Missing certificates are an easy inspection finding.
Your meat, chicken or fish shop 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 meat, chicken or fish shop: questions
Is FSSAI license mandatory for a chicken shop?
Yes. A chicken shop is a food business, and FSSAI's 2026 table lists "Fish/Meat/Poultry shop" under Retailer. You need a Registration up to ₹1.5 crore turnover, a State Licence up to ₹50 crore or a Central Licence above that. Trading without one can bring up to six months' imprisonment and a fine of up to ₹5 lakh under section 63 of the FSS Act.
What is the FSSAI license price for a chicken shop?
The government fee is ₹100 a year for a Registration, ₹5,000 a year for a State Licence and ₹7,500 a year for a Central Licence. There is no renewal fee any more, only the annual fee. Our fee to prepare and file is ₹4,500 for Registration, ₹12,500 for State and ₹19,500 for Central, plus GST.
How to apply for FSSAI license for a chicken shop?
On foscos.fssai.gov.in, choose Trade/Retail and then Retailer. That's the right kind of business if you buy dressed chicken and sell it. If you slaughter birds yourself, choose Slaughtering Unit instead. Upload your photo ID, proof of the premises and any other documents your tier needs, then pay the fee. A complete Registration application can be granted instantly under the 2026 amendment.
Which food license is needed for a fish shop?
The same as a meat shop: Retailer under Trade/Retail, on the turnover bands (Registration up to ₹1.5 crore, State to ₹50 crore, Central above). If you clean, fillet, freeze or pack fish for other sellers, you move into the Fish and fish products kind of business. That row covers handling, processing, packing and storing fish.
What are the FSSAI standards for fish and fish products?
Chapter 2.6 of the Food Products Standards Regulations. 2.6.1 covers frozen shrimp, lobsters, squid, finfish and fillets, salted and dried fish, canned, smoked and minced fish, fish pickles and more. 2.6.2 sets limits for naturally occurring formaldehyde, for example 4.0 mg/kg for Group I marine finfish, crustaceans and molluscs.
What are the FSSAI standards for eggs?
Standard 2.5.3.1 defines fresh eggs as eggs that have not been washed or dry-cleaned, with a clean, sound shell free from cracks, leaks and faecal contamination. Kept at ambient temperature (30 ± 5 °C) they are to be consumed within 2 weeks of laying, or within 5 weeks under refrigeration at 2–8 °C. Frozen, powdered, liquid and pickled egg products have their own standards.
Do I need a separate licence to sell meat online?
If you sell through a delivery app or marketplace, your own registration covers you, but its number must appear on your listing. The platform's licence doesn't cover you. If you run your own website or app to sell, FSSAI treats that as an e-commerce food business, which needs a Central Licence.
Get your meat, chicken or fish shop 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.