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Diwali Menu Card Templates in Four Print-Ready Sizes

A festive card that goes up for nine days carries exactly the same declarations as the card that has been on your tables all year. These four layouts have those declarations built into the artwork, so a card you print this week is right by construction. Updated October 2026.

  • Four formats: table tent, counter card, delivery insert and a strip that slots into the menu you already have
  • Each drawn at its true finished size, so printing at 100 per cent and cutting to the line gives you the card the label promises
  • Veg mark, allergen column, FSSAI licence line and the GST wording already positioned on every layout
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Petpooja presents
Diwali Menu Card Templates
For Indian restaurants
4
Layouts · PDF
FY 2026-27
What's Inside

One short briefing, then four layouts you can print today

01

Before You Print

Two minutes that stop the most avoidable mistake on a festive card: the rules attach to your establishment and to what is on your menu cards or boards, not to how long a card stays up. Covers which half applies to every restaurant regardless of size, which half is only for Central licence holders and ten-outlet chains, why symbols are allowed, and the exemption people wrongly think covers them. Ends with a key to every slot built into the four layouts and the part of the regulation that puts it there.

02

Table Tent, 105 x 148 mm

The card that sits on the table and does most of the selling. Two groups, nine item lines, sized A6 portrait, a quarter of an A4. Scored and folded it stands on its own. Keep it to the festive section: a guest already has your main menu in front of them.

03

Counter Card, 148 x 105 mm

For the billing counter, the entrance or a takeaway window, where the reader is standing and deciding in seconds. Wider lines, fewer of them, and a group for sweet boxes because the counter is where a box gets bought on the way out.

04

Delivery Insert, 105 x 148 mm

Goes in the bag with an online order. It is the only festive message that reaches a delivery customer who never sees your tables, and the one channel no platform sits in the middle of. The declarations apply in the bag exactly as they do on the table.

05

Menu Add-in Strip, 70 x 140 mm

A narrow strip that slots into an existing menu folder, for restaurants that do not want a second piece of paper on the table. Twelve lines, and a reminder to take it out on 9 November so festive prices are not still on display in December.

Change the festive menu once, everywhere

Petpooja POSS manages your menu, generates and routes KOTs, and deducts stock item by item as you sell, so a festive section added at the counter is the same section your reports read afterwards.

Explore Petpooja POSS
Why This Matters

A card that is up for nine days is still a menu card

Most festive cards are treated as marketing. Someone types the specials into a design tool on the Thursday, prints them on the Friday, and the card goes on the tables. Nobody asks whether it needs anything the main menu needs, because it does not feel like a menu. It feels like a poster.

It is a menu. The rule that governs this sits in Chapter 3 of the Food Safety and Standards (Labelling and Display) Regulations, 2020, at Regulation 9, and it is written against what appears on your menu cards or boards. There is no qualifier about how long the card is displayed, and no exception for a short festive run.

The half that catches people is Regulation 9(2). Allergen information against each item, and the veg or non-veg logo against each item, are required of food service establishments with no size threshold at all. A single counter owes both. The calorie half, Regulation 9(1), is the one with a limit: it applies only if you hold a Central licence or run outlets at ten or more locations, which most restaurants do not. People tend to remember it the wrong way round, worry about calories they do not owe, and drop the veg mark and allergens they do.

There is an exemption, and it is worth reading before relying on it. Regulation 9(3) covers event caterers and food service premises that operate for fewer than 60 days in a calendar year, and separately covers special-order items or modified meals made at a customer's request. The first is about the premises, not about the card. The second is about a dish a guest asks you to change. Neither reaches a year-round restaurant printing a Diwali card, and a festive special listed on that card is a listed menu item.

The regulation also helps you more than people expect: it expressly permits allergens to be shown as easy to understand symbols rather than written out, which on a small card is the difference between a readable layout and an unreadable one. And if the festive menu goes out through delivery apps, the same information has to travel with it, which the platform can only do if you gave it to them.

That is the whole reason these templates exist in this shape. Choosing the dishes is a separate job, and our guide to Diwali menu ideas for restaurants covers it, alongside Diwali offers that increase sales. Pricing them is a third job, and our free food cost calculator is the quickest way through it. These layouts cover the card: the declarations are already positioned, so the version you print has them whether or not anyone remembered on the Thursday.

Sample Preview

What each of the four layouts gives you

Here's a preview of what you'll get inside:

Before you print: Which declarations apply to every restaurant whatever its size, which apply only above a Central licence or ten outlets, why symbols are allowed, and the short-run exemption that does not reach a year-round restaurant.
Table tent: A6 portrait, 105 x 148 mm finished, a quarter of an A4. Two groups and nine item lines, with the veg box, allergen column and price column already ruled.
Counter card: A6 landscape, 148 x 105 mm. Wider lines for a reader who is standing, and a sweet-box group, because the counter is where a box gets bought on the way out.
Delivery insert: A6 portrait again. The declarations apply in the bag exactly as on the table, and the space is yours to ask for the next order directly.
Menu add-in strip: 70 x 140 mm, to slot into the folder you already use. Match its allergen symbols to the ones in the main menu: two different keys in one folder is worse than none.
... plus the Before You Print briefing and the declaration key, across 7 pages.
Key Stats

Three things to know before you print

Reg 9(2)

Allergen information and the veg or non-veg logo against each item, required of food service establishments with no size threshold of any kind. A single counter owes both, on the festive card as much as the main one.

Source: FSS (Labelling and Display) Regulations 2020, Chapter 3, read at source 08-Oct-2026
10 outlets

The calorie declaration and the 2,000 kcal reference line apply only to establishments holding a Central licence or operating outlets at ten or more locations. Most restaurants are outside it, and worry about it anyway.

Source: same regulation, 9(1). Confirm your own licence type before deciding
4 sizes

105 x 148, 148 x 105, 105 x 148 and 70 x 140 mm, each drawn at its finished size in the file rather than described. Print at 100 per cent with page scaling off and cut to the dashed line.

Source: measured in the PDF itself, all four within 0.2 mm
Common Mistakes

8 Festive Menu Card Mistakes Restaurants Keep Making

01

Treating the festive card as marketing rather than a menu

The single most common mistake, and the one these templates exist to prevent. Regulation 9 is written against what appears on your menu cards or boards. It says nothing about how long the card is up, so a nine-day Diwali insert owes the veg mark and the allergen information exactly as your year-round card does.

02

Remembering the rule the wrong way round

Owners worry about calorie counts, which most of them do not owe, and drop the allergen and veg marks, which all of them do. Calories are for a Central licence or ten or more outlets. The other two have no threshold.

03

Writing allergens out in words on a small card

The regulation expressly allows symbols. On a 105 mm card, spelling out allergens for every line is what makes people give up and leave them off entirely. Use a short symbol key and print the key on the same card.

04

Assuming the short-run exemption covers you

Regulation 9(3) exempts premises operating fewer than 60 days in a calendar year, not cards displayed for fewer than 60 days. A restaurant open all year is not covered by it, whatever the card's lifespan.

05

Printing at 'fit to page'

Every layout here is drawn at its true finished size. Printing with scaling on shrinks it by a few per cent, which is invisible on screen and obvious when the card does not sit in the holder. Set page scaling to none. While the cards are at the printer is also the moment to get the kitchen side ready, which is what mise en place means in practice.

06

Letting the festive menu reach the apps without its declarations

If the card goes out through delivery apps, the platform is required to obtain this information from you and show it where applicable, which it can only do if you supplied it. The same applies to QR code ordering at the table and to a digital menu display, which runs on Electron POS or POS Local rather than on Android POS or POS Lite.

07

Two different allergen keys in one menu folder

If the strip slots in beside a main menu that already uses symbols, use the same symbols. A guest who has to learn two keys reads neither, and a server asked to explain the difference guesses.

08

Leaving the card up after the festival

A festive price still on display in December invites an argument at the table, and a card that has stopped being read is one more thing slowing table turnover. Put removal on the morning-after list, and use the valid-dates line on each layout. If you would rather change prices on a screen than reprint, our comparison of a digital menu board against printed menus covers the trade-off.

Comparison

A Card Thrown Together vs One Printed From These

On the card Thrown together Printed from these
The veg / non-veg mark Dropped, because the card is 'just for Diwali' A box against every line, on every layout
Allergen information Left off, or written out until it will not fit A narrow column, symbols allowed, key on the card
Calorie values Worried about by restaurants that do not owe them Owed only above a Central licence or ten outlets
Card size Designed to fit the page, whatever that gives Drawn at the finished size, cut to the line
FSSAI licence number On the main menu only A line in the header strip of each card
GST wording Unstated, settled at the table Inclusive or exclusive, printed, one word deleted
Offer dates Implied, and the card stays up Printed on the card, removal on the list
Delivery orders The festive menu travels without its declarations The same information goes to the apps

Swipe the table sideways to see the full comparison.

Print the festive card once, properly

Download the four free Diwali menu card layouts, print at 100 per cent, and cut to the line.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Does a Diwali menu card need allergen and veg or non-veg marks?
Yes, and there is no size threshold on either. Regulation 9(2) of the FSS (Labelling and Display) Regulations, 2020 requires food service establishments to show allergen information and the veg or non-veg logo against the items displayed on their menu cards or boards. It is written against the card, not against how long the card is up, so a festive insert that runs for nine days owes exactly what your year-round menu owes. The regulation does expressly permit allergens to be shown as easy to understand symbols rather than written out, which is what makes a small card practical. This is general guidance on the labelling rules rather than legal advice, so check anything that affects a licence or an inspection with your own adviser.
Do I have to print calorie counts on a festive menu?
Only if you hold a Central licence or operate outlets at ten or more locations. Regulation 9(1) puts the calorie value per serving, the serving size, and the line about an average active adult requiring 2,000 kcal a day on those establishments alone. Most independent restaurants are outside it. This is the point people most often get backwards: they worry about the calorie rule, which usually does not apply to them, and leave off the allergen and veg marks, which always do.
Is a short-run festive card exempt because it is temporary?
No. The exemption that sounds like it fits is Regulation 9(3), and reading it in full settles the question. It covers event caterers and food service premises that operate for fewer than 60 days in a calendar year, which is about the premises rather than the card, and it separately covers special-order items or modified meals made at a customer's request, which is about a dish a guest asks you to change. A restaurant that trades all year and prints a Diwali card is not within either limb, and a festive special printed on a card is a listed menu item.
What size are the templates, and will they print correctly?
Four sizes: a 105 x 148 mm table tent, a 148 x 105 mm counter card, a 105 x 148 mm delivery insert and a 70 x 140 mm strip for an existing menu folder. Each one is drawn in the file at that finished size rather than merely labelled with it, so printing an A4 sheet at 100 per cent with page scaling set to none and cutting to the dashed line gives you the card the label promises. The usual cause of a card that will not sit in its holder is a printer dialog left on 'fit to page'.
Can I just put the Diwali menu on a screen instead?
You can, and it saves reprinting when a price or an item changes, though the same declarations follow the menu onto the screen. Our comparison of a digital menu board against printed menus covers the cost side. One thing to settle first: a digital display runs on Electron POS or POS Local, the two desktop versions, and not on Android POS or POS Lite. Confirm which version you are on before you plan the festive menu around a screen.
What else should I sort out before the festive rush?
The card is one of the later jobs. Ahead of it sit the menu itself, the pricing, and the kitchen preparation. Hygiene and food safety matter most when volume is highest, and our FSSAI Compliance Checklist is the sheet for that.

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About Petpooja

Petpooja is India's leading SME business software suite, trusted by 1,50,000+ businesses across restaurants, retail, healthcare, manufacturing, and more. From billing and payroll to task management and procurement Petpooja helps Indian businesses run better, every day.

Run the festive menu from one screen

Petpooja POSS manages your menu across dine-in and online, generates and routes KOTs to the right station, and deducts stock item by item as you sell, so a festive section you add at the counter is the same section your reports read afterwards. See menu management in the product, and ask which features your POS version runs before you plan around them.

Book a Free Demo Call: +91-9104369797
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