A 14-digit number printed on a menu proves very little on its own. Anyone can print one, and nobody checks it at the printing stage. It only becomes evidence once you have run it against FSSAI’s own records.
There were 74.33 lakh active licences and registrations in force as on 30 June 2026, and FSSAI keeps the register open to anyone. Three routes will tell you whether a number is real, who holds it and whether it covers the premises you are standing in.
This matters most when you are onboarding a supplier or a cloud kitchen partner. Across the outlets running on Petpooja POSS, a vendor whose paperwork does not survive a two-minute check is a problem that surfaces later, usually during an inspection.
Key Takeaways
- The FoSCoS FBO Search is the primary check, and it works without a login.
- You can search by licence number, or by company name with state and district.
- Match the name and address, not just the number.
- Newer licences no longer carry an expiry date, so “valid till” is not the test.
Why an FSSAI Licence Check Is Worth Two Minutes
Your own licence covers your premises and nobody else’s. Say a supplier ships you food under a lapsed licence, or a partner kitchen cooks under a number registered to a different address. The risk lands on your outlet as well as theirs.
The check also cuts the other way. Buyers, aggregators and landlords increasingly ask to verify yours, and a number that returns nothing on FoSCoS is a slow conversation you do not need.
What a Valid FSSAI Number Looks Like
Every FSSAI licence or registration number is exactly 14 digits. Not 12, not 16, and never letters. A number that is the wrong length is the fastest possible fail, and you can spot it before opening a browser.
The digits do encode information, including the state and the year the number was issued. Decoding them by eye is not the check, though, and a well-made fake will have plausible-looking digits.
Treat the number as a lookup key rather than a document. What proves the business is licensed is the record that comes back, not the pattern of the digits.
Two sanity checks are worth running before you search. The number should be printed rather than written onto a bill by hand afterwards. And it should be identical everywhere the business shows it: certificate, bill, menu and online listing. Different numbers in different places usually means one of them belongs to somebody else.
3 Ways to Check an FSSAI Licence
Use the first by default. The other two earn their place when you are in front of the business rather than at a desk.
| Checking Method | What You Need to Start | What It Tells You | Best Used When |
|---|---|---|---|
| FoSCoS FBO Search | The licence number, or the company name with state and district | Registered name, the address the licence covers, and its status | You are onboarding a supplier or partner from your desk |
| Food Safety Connect app | The number and a phone | Whether the number is valid, and it lodges complaints too | You are standing inside the restaurant |
| Certificate and bill | Physical access to the premises | Whether the name, address and number agree with each other | A site visit, an audit, or before signing anything |
1. Search the FoSCoS Portal
This is the official register, and it needs no account. Open FoSCoS and choose the FBO Search tab on the home page.
The form gives you two ways in:
- By number. Enter the licence or registration certificate number in the “License/Registration Certificate No.” field.
- By name. Enter the company name and pick the state and district. Use the registered legal name, not the signboard, because the two frequently differ.
Fill the captcha and search. What comes back is the record itself: the business name, the address the licence covers and its status.
Read the address line carefully. A licence held by the same company for a different outlet is the most common near-miss, and it will not protect the premises you are actually dealing with.
If nothing comes back at all, the number does not exist in the register. That is a different problem from a record that exists but shows a status you were not expecting, and the two need different responses.
The same page carries narrower searches worth knowing about. There is a separate E-Commerce FBO Search for online sellers and a manufacturer search. A commodity or area-specific search helps when you are looking for licensed suppliers rather than checking one you already have.
2. Use the Food Safety Connect App
FSSAI publishes its own app, Food Safety Connect, for Android and iOS. It verifies a licence or registration number from your phone.
The app does a second job the portal does not. It lodges consumer complaints about unsafe, substandard or wrongly labelled food, and about misleading claims.
A registered complaint returns a unique concern number by SMS, which you use to track it. The same route runs on the web through the consumer grievance portal if you would rather not install anything.
3. Check the Certificate and the Bill
The lowest-tech check, and the one most people skip. A licensed food business has to display its certificate at the premises where customers can see it.
Look at three things on it, in this order:
- The name. It should match the entity you are paying, not a related company or a former owner.
- The address. It should be the premises you are standing in, down to the floor and unit.
- The number. Note it and run it through FoSCoS later.
Then compare it against the bill. Since 1 January 2022 food businesses have had to print the 14-digit number on cash receipts, invoices and bills. The labelling rules govern what goes on the menu card. A certificate on the wall and a different number on the bill is worth asking about.
Checking a Licence on a Delivery App Listing
Aggregator listings carry the restaurant’s FSSAI number, usually in the outlet information panel below the menu. That number is checkable in exactly the same way as one printed on a paper bill.
FSSAI’s position is blunt: no food business may operate on an e-commerce platform without a valid licence. Every listing should therefore have a licensed operator behind it.
The FBO Search page has a separate E-Commerce FBO Search built for online sellers. It is the right tool here, because it distinguishes the platform’s own licence from the licence of the kitchen that actually cooks the food.
The distinction matters most for cloud kitchens. One address can host several brands, and the brands you see listed may or may not all sit under the same licence. If you are partnering with a kitchen rather than ordering from one, ask which brands its licence actually covers before anything is signed.
The Expiry Date Trap
This is where older advice now misleads. Guidance written before 2026 tells you to check the validity period on the certificate, because licences used to run for one to five years and lapse.
FSSAI has since introduced perpetual validity for licences and registrations, so newer ones simply do not expire. A certificate with no end date is not a red flag any more.
During the changeover you will meet both kinds. Older certificates still carry a validity period and still need to have been dealt with, so the safe check is the status on FoSCoS rather than a date printed on paper.
What to Do If It Does Not Check Out
A blank result is not automatically fraud. Work through the harmless explanations first, then escalate.
- Retype the number. A single transposed digit returns nothing, and handwritten numbers on invoices are easy to misread.
- Try the name search instead. If the number was mistyped on their own invoice, the company name plus state and district will still find them.
- Check the state. A supplier billing from Whitefield may hold a licence issued in a neighbouring state where the manufacturing unit sits (an example).
- Ask them directly. A licensed business produces the certificate without fuss, so hesitation is itself information.
- Report it. If a business is trading with no valid licence, that is what the consumer grievance route exists for, and FSSAI runs a helpline on 1800-11-2100.
For a partner you are about to onboard, treat a failed check as a stop rather than a delay. Our guide to restaurant licences in India covers what a compliant operator should be able to show you.
Better still, make the check part of onboarding rather than something you do when a problem appears. Recording the licence number and the date you verified it, alongside the usual commercial terms, turns a scramble into a lookup. Our vendor evaluation template has a column for exactly that.
Making Your Own Licence Easy to Verify
Everything above works in reverse when somebody checks you. Keep the certificate displayed and legible at the premises, not filed in a drawer. Make sure the number on your bills matches the certificate exactly, since a typo in your billing setup quietly fails every check anyone runs.
That second one is a software setting rather than a compliance task. A restaurant POS stores the licence number once during outlet setup and prints it on every bill, so it cannot drift from the certificate. Our restaurant bill format template shows where it belongs on the layout.
Conclusion
Checking an FSSAI licence takes about two minutes and needs no login. Search FoSCoS by number or by name, read the address rather than glancing at the number, and remember that a missing expiry date is now normal rather than suspicious.
Do it before you onboard a supplier, not after an inspection raises it. And keep your own number printing correctly on every bill so the check runs clean when somebody points it at you. Petpooja POSS holds it in your outlet setup for exactly that reason.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. The FoSCoS FBO Search accepts a company name with the state and district instead. Spelling matters, so try the registered legal name rather than the brand on the signboard, since the two are often different.
Not for newer ones. FSSAI moved to perpetual validity, so licences no longer lapse on a date. Older certificates issued under the earlier rules still carry a validity period, which is why you may see both kinds during a check.
No. Printing a number costs nothing and nobody verifies it at the point of printing. It only means something once you have run it through FoSCoS and seen the name and address come back matching the business in front of you. The same applies to a cloud kitchen partner you never physically visit.
Treat it as an answer. A licensed food business has the number on its invoices and its certificate on the wall, so there is nothing to withhold. Refusal usually means the licence is missing, lapsed or issued for a different premises. The cafe licence guide sets out what they should hold.
