Restaurant compliance checklist India 2026 — 38 statutory items + planner
The full restaurant compliance checklist for India 2026: 38 statutory items across FSSAI, GST, fire, labour, signage. Free annual planner template + monthly cadence guide.
Last updated 12 May 2026
About this piece. Indian restaurant compliance is not difficult. It is fragmented. Thirty-eight statutory touchpoints across seven different authorities, each with its own portal, fee structure, and renewal cadence. Operators who treat compliance as 38 separate fires fight all year. Operators who put 38 line items on a single annual planner do an hour a week and never get blindsided. This piece gives you the full checklist + the cadence to file it against.
The 7 authorities you answer to
Every Indian restaurant deals with these in some combination:
| # | Authority | What they cover |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | FSSAI (central + state) | Food safety, hygiene, licensing |
| 2 | GST department (CBIC) | Indirect tax — output, input, returns |
| 3 | Income Tax department | Direct tax, TDS, audit |
| 4 | Municipal corporation | Trade licence, signage, garbage |
| 5 | Fire department (state) | Fire NOC, extinguisher AMC |
| 6 | Labour department (state) | Shop & Establishment, registers, minimum wage |
| 7 | EPFO + ESIC | Provident fund, employee state insurance |
Plus situational layers — pollution control board (commercial kitchens), excise (liquor), legal metrology (weights & measures), copyright society fees (PPL/IPRS for piped music), and BIS for branded packaged items if you sell them.
The annual planner has to map every item to one of these authorities and to a month.
The 38-item checklist — one-time + recurring
A. One-time at the start of the business
| # | Item | Authority |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Business entity registration (proprietorship / LLP / Pvt Ltd) | MCA / state |
| 2 | PAN of business | Income Tax |
| 3 | TAN (for TDS deduction) | Income Tax |
| 4 | GST registration | GST |
| 5 | FSSAI registration / licence | FSSAI |
| 6 | Trade licence | Municipal |
| 7 | Shop & Establishment registration | Labour |
| 8 | Fire NOC | Fire dept |
| 9 | Pollution control NOC (if commercial kitchen) | SPCB |
| 10 | Liquor licence (L-1/L-2/L-19, varies) | Excise |
| 11 | Signage licence | Municipal |
| 12 | Weights & measures registration (if you weigh and sell) | Legal Metrology |
| 13 | EPFO registration (when staff > 20) | EPFO |
| 14 | ESIC registration (when staff > 10 in most states) | ESIC |
| 15 | Music/copyright licence (PPL + IPRS, if piped music) | PPL / IPRS |
B. Monthly recurring
| # | Item | Authority | Due |
|---|---|---|---|
| 16 | GSTR-1 — outward supplies | GST | 11th of next month |
| 17 | GSTR-3B — summary return + payment | GST | 20th of next month |
| 18 | TDS payment (Section 192/194 etc.) | Income Tax | 7th of next month |
| 19 | EPF challan | EPFO | 15th of next month |
| 20 | ESIC challan | ESIC | 15th of next month |
| 21 | Professional Tax payment (state) | Labour / Comm Tax | varies by state |
| 22 | Salary disbursement + slips | Internal | last working day |
C. Quarterly recurring
| # | Item | Authority | Due |
|---|---|---|---|
| 23 | TDS return (24Q / 26Q) | Income Tax | end of month after quarter |
| 24 | Advance tax instalment | Income Tax | 15-Jun, 15-Sep, 15-Dec, 15-Mar |
| 25 | GST quarterly return (if QRMP scheme) | GST | depends on state |
D. Half-yearly recurring
| # | Item | Authority | Due |
|---|---|---|---|
| 26 | Water test report (food prep) | NABL lab | every 6 months |
| 27 | Pest control AMC review | Vendor (private) | every 6 months |
E. Annual recurring
| # | Item | Authority | Due |
|---|---|---|---|
| 28 | Income Tax return | Income Tax | 31 Jul (or 31 Oct for audit cases) |
| 29 | GSTR-9 annual return | GST | 31 Dec of next FY |
| 30 | GSTR-9C audit reconciliation (if turnover > ₹5 cr) | GST | 31 Dec of next FY |
| 31 | Tax audit (if turnover > ₹1 cr / ₹10 cr) | CA + Income Tax | 30 Sep of next FY |
| 32 | Statutory audit (Pvt Ltd / LLP > limit) | CA + MCA | as per rules |
| 33 | ROC filings (AOC-4, MGT-7 for Pvt Ltd) | MCA | within 30/60 days of AGM |
| 34 | Food handler medical fitness certificates | Authorised lab | every 12 months |
| 35 | Fire extinguisher refill / AMC | Vendor (private) | annual |
| 36 | Music licence renewal (PPL + IPRS) | PPL / IPRS | annual |
| 37 | Signage licence renewal | Municipal | annual or per-tender |
| 38 | Trade licence renewal | Municipal | annual |
F. Multi-year recurring (track but not annual)
- FSSAI licence renewal (1–5 yearly per tenure chosen)
- Shop & Establishment renewal (1–5 yearly per state)
- Fire NOC renewal (annual to 3-yearly per state)
- Liquor licence renewal (annual)
- Lease renewal (3-, 5-, 9-yearly)
That's the 38. Add five more for liquor-serving outlets and five more for chains operating across states.
The annual planner — one page, twelve columns
Take the 38 items above and lay them across a 12-month calendar grid. The format that works:
ITEM | J | F | M | A | M | J | J | A | S | O | N | D
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
GSTR-1 | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x
GSTR-3B | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x
TDS payment | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x
EPF + ESIC challan | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x
Salary disbursement | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x
TDS return | | | | x | | | x | | | x | | x
Advance tax | | | x | | | x | | | x | | | x
Water test | | | x | | | | | | x | | |
Pest AMC review | | | x | | | | | | x | | |
Medical fitness (rolling) | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x
Income Tax return | | | | | | | x | | |[Oct if audit]
GSTR-9 + 9C | | | | | | | | | | | | x
Tax audit | | | | | | | | | x | | |
ROC filings (AGM cycle) | | | | | | | | | | x | |
Fire extinguisher refill | |[at AMC anniversary]
PPL + IPRS |[at anniversary]
Trade licence renewal |[at anniversary]
Signage licence renewal |[at anniversary]
FSSAI renewal (T-60 reminder)|[at T-60 days from expiry]
Print this, stick it on the back of the office door, walk past it every morning. Compliance becomes a habit.
The 60-day rule for renewals
For every annual or multi-year renewal — FSSAI, fire NOC, trade licence, signage, liquor, shop & establishment — set a calendar reminder at T-60 days from expiry. The reasoning:
- T-60 to T-30: gather documents, refresh water test + pest contract + medical certificates as needed.
- T-30 to T-7: file the renewal application.
- T-7 to T-0: chase the authority for status if processing delays.
Operators who set the reminder at T-15 routinely overrun and pay late fees. Operators who set it at T-30 are scrambling for documents that take 2 weeks to procure. T-60 is the operating sweet spot.
Hard penalties for the most-missed items
| Missed item | Typical penalty |
|---|---|
| GSTR-3B late | ₹50/day late fee + 18% interest |
| FSSAI operating without renewal | ₹100/day + Section 63 penalty up to ₹5 lakh |
| EPF challan late | 12% interest + damages (5–25%) |
| TDS return late | ₹200/day fee + 1.5%/month interest |
| Trade licence lapsed | Fine + closure risk |
| Fire NOC lapsed | Closure risk + insurance void |
| Liquor licence lapsed | Heavy penalty + bar closure |
| Income Tax late filing | ₹5,000 fee + 1% interest/month |
The numbers individually look small. Stack three or four delayed items in a year and the compliance penalty bill is in the ₹50,000–₹2 lakh range — pure margin loss with no operational return.
The reason compliance feels overwhelming is that operators try to memorise it. Don't memorise it. Externalise it. The 38-item planner on the wall and a Google Calendar with all the deadlines pre-loaded does the cognitive work for you. The brain is for cooking decisions, customer escalations, and people. Use paper for compliance.
The 4 compliance roles in a restaurant
Compliance breaks if it has no owner. The four roles:
- The owner — signs filings, knows the licences, holds final accountability. Reviews the planner weekly.
- The accountant / CA — handles GST, Income Tax, ROC, payroll filings. Monthly cadence.
- The manager — runs the operational compliance: medical certificates, water tests, pest control, fire AMCs. Weekly check.
- The HR / admin — labour registers, attendance, wage compliance, EPFO/ESIC. Monthly.
A single-outlet restaurant often collapses 3 and 4 into one person, and 2 is outsourced to a CA firm. That's fine. What's not fine is leaving any of the four roles undefined.
How software changes this
A restaurant ops tool can automate maybe 8–10 of the 38 line items: monthly GSTR-1 from POS data, daily DSR, payroll inputs, attendance, salary slips, leave registers. Software cannot file your fire NOC renewal or get your medical certificates done.
The right framing: software handles the high-frequency low-effort items so the human brain has the attention budget for the low-frequency high-stakes items (annual renewals, audits, inspections). Both layers matter; neither replaces the other.
What to do this week
- Print the 38-item checklist above.
- For each item, write down: which authority, which staff member is responsible, when was it last filed, when is it next due.
- Put the next-due dates into a calendar with T-60 reminders.
- Identify any items where you don't know the answer to "when was it last filed" — those are your top-priority gaps.
Two hours of work. Twelve months of "I'm not going to be surprised by a notice".
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