The Delhi Government is planning to implement the Food Safety and Standards (Licensing and Registration of Food Businesses) Regulations 2011 from the first week of August after a delay of one year.

The new regulations will make it mandatory for tea stalls, dhabas, fruit and vegetable sellers, grocery shops, milk vendors, canteens, caterers, restaurants, hotels, food processors in the national capital to have a food safety licence. The regulations also require trucks and other vehicles transporting food items to obtain licences from the authorities.

Health Minister Ashok Kumar Walia said that the implementation of the regulation was extended by six months by the central government earlier. He said that a Hyderabad-based company will soon open six counters in the city to allow vendors to get them registered.

He claimed that the Food Safety and Standards Act will make sure that the food available to the people in the city is of improved quality and it will also check false advertising by those in the food business. The new regulations will also have penalty clauses like life imprisonment and a fine of up to Rs 10 lakh for offenders.

The law was passed by Parliament in 2006 and the central government has also notified the rules.