A restaurant, café or cloud kitchen needs food-safety, labour and municipal approvals before it opens, and GST once sales grow. Here is what applies, when, and in what order.
What each registration is, who issues it and when it applies to a restaurant. Rules vary by state and by size — treat this as the map, and ask us about your exact case.
Mandatory before you open · FSSAI
Every food business that makes, stores, sells or serves food needs a basic registration, a state licence or a central licence. Which one depends on turnover and activity; from 1 April 2026 the slabs are ₹1.5 crore (basic) and ₹50 crore (state).
Mandatory · State labour dept
Registers a shop, office, restaurant or other commercial establishment under the state's Shops and Establishments Act. Who must register, and the exemptions, differ from state to state.
Mandatory · Municipal corporation
A municipal licence to carry on a particular trade at a particular premises. Eating houses, shops and many workshops need one from the local body — in some cities it is called a health trade licence.
Above ₹20 lakh turnover · CBIC
Required once aggregate turnover crosses the threshold — ₹40 lakh for goods and ₹20 lakh for services in most states — and in some cases from the first sale, such as most inter-state supplies of goods.
Above the seating or area limit · State fire dept
A no-objection certificate from the state fire service confirming the building meets fire-safety norms. Whether you need one depends on the state's fire rules — usually on occupancy, seating capacity, floor area or building height.
10 / 20+ employees · ESIC, EPFO
Provident fund applies from 20 employees and ESI from 10 (in notified areas). Registration is due once you cross the count, and monthly contributions follow.
Recommended · benefits & credit
A free, Aadhaar-based registration that classifies you as a micro, small or medium enterprise — used for priority-sector credit, protection against delayed payments and preferences in government tenders.
Recommended · protect the restaurant's name
Protects your brand name and logo across India, and is what marketplace brand-registry programmes ask for. Filing early fixes your date of priority.
Some registrations need another one first — this is the sequence that avoids rework.
After the registrations come the returns and filings that keep you compliant.
GST returns, bookkeeping, TDS and annual filings — everything a business like yours has to keep doing, in one place.
See the compliance pack →City guides with the local authorities, fees and timelines.
What people starting a restaurant ask us most.
From 1 April 2026: basic registration up to ₹1.5 crore turnover, a state licence from ₹1.5 crore to ₹50 crore, and a central licence above ₹50 crore.
Since 1 January 2022 the food aggregator pays GST on restaurant services supplied through it (section 9(5) of the CGST Act), so a restaurant below the ₹20 lakh threshold is not required to register just for that. Aggregators may still ask for a GSTIN when you sign up.
No. Each state's fire rules set the trigger — usually seating capacity, floor area or building height. Small takeaway counters are often outside it; banquet halls and large dine-ins usually are not.
Every sector, with its own checklist.
A CA or CS confirms which of these apply to you, in your state, and handles the ones we cover.