Maharashtra FDA suspends licences of two online food delivery facilities

Maharashtra‘s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) suspended the licences of two Blinkit facilities in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar on Tuesday (August 18, 2026) after inspections found alleged cold-chain failures, expired food, poor hygiene and inadequate traceability records, among other food-safety violations. Earlier, a Zepto facility in Mumbai’s Chembur was also suspended.

The action comes amid the FDA’s crackdown against online food-storage and delivery facilities in the State.

At the High Court Colony facility in Satara, FDA inspectors Varsha Rode and Kirtika Jhade found cigarettes of brands including Wills, Classic and Marlboro being sold along with the food storage and online deliveries. According to the FDA, the sale of tobacco products from the food retail premises was prohibited.

They also found a ‘Salisbury Caramelised Onion & Dill Dip’, which required refrigeration but was stored on regular shelves at room temperature. Jars of Brajratna Cow Ghee that had crossed their ‘Best Before’ date were allegedly kept with regular sale stock instead of being segregated. Vegetarian and non-vegetarian products were stored on the same shelf in cold storage, while food products and cleaning supplies were also kept together, according to the FDA.

Food-handling employees allegedly did not have annual medical check-up certificates and were working without aprons, gloves or head coverings. Purchase bills issued in the names of entities including Hyperpure, Zomato Hyperpure and Moonstone Ventures were also found, but officials said documents explaining their business relationship with Blinkit and product traceability were unavailable.

At Blinkit’s Harsul facility, FDA inspector Farid Siddiqui noted that two toilets opened directly opposite racks containing onions, potatoes and flour. Officials also reported tobacco spit stains and unhygienic conditions around the handwashing area.

The same refrigerated dip at the Satara facility was allegedly being stored at room temperature in Harsul as well. They even failed to produce historical temperature-monitoring records for its cold rooms, the FDA said.

Broken tiles and stairs, garbage near the unloading area and the absence of rodent traps near receiving and delivery points were among other deficiencies recorded. Staff medical fitness certificates, protective clothing, drinking-water potability reports, purchase invoices and supply-chain traceability records were also unavailable, according to the department.

D.V. Patil, Assistant Commissioner (Food) and Licensing Authority of the FDA, ordered the immediate suspension of both licences on the ground that the violations posed a risk to public health and has prohibited Blink Commerce Private Limited, or anyone acting on its behalf, from purchasing, storing, selling or fulfilling orders through the Blinkit application from the two premises while the licences remain suspended.

This action follows the FDA’s Statewide inspection drive between July 14 and August 17, where the food licence of a Zepto Limited facility in Chembur was also suspended after officials found hygiene, maintenance and temperature-control violations.

FDA inspectors found non-vegetarian chilled products were at a temperature of 9°C instead of a prescribed maximum of 5°C, while frozen products were stored at minus 11°C instead of the recommended minus 18°C or below. Inspections also found missing temperature indicators and freezer-door locks, poor ventilation, flaking paint, oil-spilt floors, dust-covered exhaust fans and inadequate pest control and cleaning measures.

A potable-water test report was also unavailable, and the FSSAI licence was not displayed at the premises, according to the FDA.