01
Brand Standards and Non-Negotiables
The short list a franchisee can actually hold in their head, with the consequence written next to each rule. A rule with no stated consequence is a preference.
Franchise Operations Manual Template for Indian Brands
An editable Word document, not a PDF you can only read. Thirteen sections: nine you fill in with your own standards, and four that set out what the law puts on the franchisee rather than on you. Written for Indian brands, against the rules as they stand in 2026.
- 18 ready tables including a pre-opening sign-off, an audit scorecard and an outlet licence register
- Every field you replace is marked in red, so the document is usable the moment you open it
- A compliance annexure explaining why your brand's FSSAI licence does not cover a franchisee's outlet
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Petpooja presents
Franchise Operations Manual
For Indian Food & Beverage Brands
13
Sections · Word document
Updated Sep 2026
What's Inside
Thirteen sections across two halves
02
Opening a New Outlet
An eleven row pre-opening sign-off covering lease, licences, staffing, billing and opening stock, plus a countdown timeline from site approval to opening day.
03
Daily Routine, Menu and Purchasing
Opening and closing tables written as instructions to the person doing the task, a recipe card format, portion discipline, and an approved supplier list with a no-substitution rule.
04
People, Complaints and Reporting
A first week induction plan, the records the franchisee must keep, an escalation matrix separating what an outlet handles from what reaches you immediately, and a reporting cadence.
05
The Brand Audit Scorecard
A weighted 100 point scorecard across six areas, with the bands published so the franchisee can see them in advance, and food safety treated separately from the total.
06
The Compliance Annexure
Why licences are held per premises and per operator, the annual FSSAI obligation for every outlet, GST registration State by State, and the eight questions your agreement should settle.
Three click billing, and reports you do not chase, with Petpooja POSS
Three click billing, KOT generation and routing, direct Zomato and Swiggy orders on one screen, and real-time restaurant reports, automated and paper free. Section 8 asks the franchisee to report daily numbers. A billing system that reports to head office directly removes most of that table.
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Why This Matters
Your Licence Does Not Cover Their Outlet
Most Indian franchise systems have an agreement and no manual. The agreement says what the parties owe each other. It does not tell the person behind the counter how to run the outlet, and that gap is where brand consistency quietly dies.
Where a manual does exist, it has usually been adapted from an American template. Those describe disclosure documents and registration regimes that have no Indian equivalent, and they are silent on the two rules that actually govern a multi-outlet Indian food business.
The first is that an FSSAI licence attaches to a premises. The licensing regulations permit a single licence across different establishments only where they sit in the same local area. Outlets in different cities are not in the same local area, so each one is a separate licence or registration, applied for and held by whoever operates that outlet. The licence form names one "authorised premises" and the licence has to be displayed there, not filed at head office.
The second lands harder after March 2026. FSSAI registrations and licences no longer expire, which reads like one less thing to track. What replaced the renewal date is an annual fee and, where applicable, an annual return, and missing either means the licence is deemed suspended automatically. No order is served. Nothing looks different. And a separate return is due for every licence, even where one operator holds several.
Put those together and a twenty outlet network has twenty independent ways to go quietly non-compliant, none of which produces a document anyone will notice. That is the part of multi-outlet management nobody budgets time for, and it is why section 10 of this manual is a licence register with two date columns, and why section 8 asks for it quarterly.
The rest of the template is scaffolding. It is deliberately empty, because your standards are yours: what your best outlet already does, written down so the next one can copy it. If you are still choosing a model, the blog covers franchise models in India and how to start a restaurant franchise. This document is what you hand over once that is settled.
Sample Preview
The outlet licence register from section 10
Here's a preview of what you'll get inside:
Outlet: one row each, because a licence is issued
against a premises and an operator, not against your brand
In whose name: the franchisee entity holding the
licence, which is the column most brands discover they cannot fill in confidently
FSSAI number: the licence or registration number
for that outlet, not the brand's
Authorised premises: the address actually printed
on the certificate, which is not always the address you think
Fee paid on: the first of the two dates that now
replace the old renewal deadline
Return filed on: the second, and a separate return
is due for every licence even where one operator holds several
... plus 17 more tables across the pre-opening sign-off, the daily
routine, the recipe card, induction, the escalation matrix, reporting and the audit scorecard.
Pair it with the free
break-even
calculator when you model a new outlet.
Key Stats
What the rules actually say
Same local area
The only circumstance in which one FSSAI licence may cover different establishments or premises. Outlets in different cities fall outside it, so each one holds its own licence or registration.
Source: FSS (Licensing and Registration) Regulations 2011, regulation 2.1.5(1)1 return per licence
A separate annual return is due for every licence issued, irrespective of whether the same operator holds more than one. Twenty outlets means twenty filings, not one consolidated return.
Source: FSS (Licensing and Registration) Regulations 2011, regulation 2.1.13(2)₹20 lakh
The GST registration threshold, and it applies in the State from where the supply is made. A brand crossing State lines does not extend a registration, the operating entity registers where it supplies.
Source: CGST Act 2017, section 22(1)
Common Mistakes
7 Mistakes Franchisors in India Make
01
Assuming the brand's FSSAI licence covers the network
It covers the premises named on it. The regulations allow one licence across different establishments only in the same local area, so outlets in other cities each need their own, held by whoever operates them.
02
Reading perpetual validity as nothing to track
Licences stopped expiring in March 2026. They now go deemed suspended when the annual fee or return is missed, silently and per outlet, and no food business activity may be carried on during suspension.
03
Filing one consolidated annual return for the chain
A separate return is due for every licence issued, irrespective of whether the same operator holds more than one. One filing does not discharge twenty obligations.
04
Adapting an American franchise manual
Those templates are built around disclosure documents and registration regimes that have no Indian equivalent, and they say nothing about premises-linked food licensing or State by State GST registration.
05
Writing fifty non-negotiables
A franchisee can hold five rules that never bend. Fifty rules with equal weight means the franchisee picks which ones to follow, and they will not pick the ones you would.
06
Running an audit the franchisee cannot see in advance
An unpublished scorecard measures surprise, not standards. Publishing the weights and the bands is what turns an audit into something an outlet can prepare for and improve against, and it is the basis of workable head office control.
07
Leaving the annual filing unowned in the agreement
If the agreement does not say who pays the annual fee and files the return for each outlet, nobody does. Deemed suspension is silent, so an unowned task becomes an unnoticed one.
Comparison
The agreement and the manual do different jobs
| Question | Franchise agreement | Operations manual |
|---|---|---|
| What it settles | What each party owes the other | How the outlet is actually run |
| Who reads it | The owners and their lawyers, once | The outlet manager and staff, daily |
| Changes how often | Rarely, and by amendment | As standards improve |
| Covers portion sizes and recipes | No | Yes, section 4 |
| Covers who holds each licence | It should, and often does not | Section 10 and section 13 flag it |
| Covers the audit and its scoring | Refers to it | Publishes the scorecard, section 9 |
| Enforceable on its own | Yes | Only through the agreement |
Swipe the table sideways to see the full comparison.
Write it once, hand it to every franchisee
Download the free Word template and fill in your own standards.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Does my franchisee need their own FSSAI licence?
In almost every case, yes. The licensing regulations allow a single licence to
cover different establishments or premises only where they are in the same local area, and
outlets in different cities are not. The licence form names one authorised premises and a copy
has to be displayed at that premises. Which category and fee applies depends on the kind of
business and the turnover, and that is settled with the registering authority rather than
assumed. Our FSSAI
compliance checklist covers what each outlet then has to do day to day.
FSSAI licences do not expire now. Is there anything to do each year?
Yes, and for a chain it matters more than it did. Since March 2026 a licence is
valid and subsisting unless suspended, cancelled or surrendered, so there is no renewal
application. In its place there is an annual fee and, where applicable, an annual return, and
missing either means the licence is deemed suspended. It revives only on payment or filing with
penalty, and no food business activity may be carried on while it is suspended. Because a
separate return is due for every licence, a twenty outlet network has twenty separate ways to
fall over, and nobody serves an order when it happens.
Can one GST registration cover all my franchise outlets?
No. Section 22(1) of the CGST Act makes a supplier liable to be registered in
the State or Union territory from where the taxable supply is made, once aggregate turnover
crosses ₹20 lakh. The ₹10 lakh figure applies only in the special category States, and the
Explanation to section 22 excepts Jammu and Kashmir, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Himachal
Pradesh, Meghalaya, Sikkim and Uttarakhand, which leaves Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and
Tripura. In any case each franchisee is usually a separate legal entity and registers in its
own right.
How is a franchise fee or royalty treated for GST?
It is a supply of service, but the service code is not a single settled answer. The
Scheme of Classification of Services carries two candidates: 997336, "Licensing services for the
right to use trademarks and franchises", which sits in the group for licensing intellectual
property, and 998396, "Trademarks and franchises", which sits among other professional and
business services. Which fits depends on how your agreement is structured. This template
deliberately quotes no rate either, because the rate structure was restructured in September
2025 and most material still circulating describes the earlier position. Section 12 lists the
questions to put to your chartered accountant.
Is this a franchise agreement?
No, and it does not replace one. The manual tells the franchisee how to run the
outlet; the agreement governs the relationship and is what makes the manual enforceable.
Section 13 lists eight questions the agreement should settle before the first outlet opens,
including who holds each licence, who files the annual return per outlet, and who employs the
outlet staff. That last one is fact specific and worth advice, and our
contractor
versus employee guide explains why the line matters. This template is general guidance and
not legal advice.
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.
Real-time restaurant reports, automated and paper free
Petpooja POSS gives each outlet three click billing and KOT generation and routing, with real-time restaurant reports, automated and paper free.
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