Last month, the FDA suspended the food business license of this warehouse of Kiranakart Technologies Pvt Ltd after serious hygiene violations were allegedly found during the inspection

Following a raid at the Dharavi, Mumbai outlet of Kiranakart Technologies Pvt Ltd, the parent company of the popular grocery delivery platform Zepto, the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is now facing a new challenge — locating the hidden “dark stores” of quick commerce companies across the state.

Last month, the FDA suspended the food business license of this warehouse of Kiranakart Technologies Pvt Ltd after serious hygiene violations were allegedly found during the inspection.

Following this, the state government earlier this month, ordered strict inspections of all facilities operated by fast-delivery services like Zepto, Blinkit, and Instamart, amongst others. However, FDA officials are unable to track these warehouses, storage and packaging centres as they are operating with different names.

The FDA Pune region office, which includes Pune Solapur, Satara, Sangli and Kolhapur has over one lakh registered food business operators (FBO) and over 30,000 licensed FBOs. After the order, the FDA inspected over ten dark stores associated with this platform. Besides, a stop business notice was issued to a dark store in Baner-Balewadi associated with quick grocery delivery service Blinkit, said the officials.

Suresh Annapure, joint commissioner, FDA, Pune region, said, “We have been unable to get the details of the dark stores, warehouses and storage centres associated with these platforms. These dark stores are linked to the platform, are outsourced by these platforms and are registered under different names. Besides, we don’t know how many of them are operating sans licences.”

According to FDA officials, the head offices of these quick commerce companies are located in cities like Delhi, Mumbai among other cities. The FDA officials are unable to get the contact details of the head office and the concerned people. Due to this, food authorities are collecting information and even conducting random inspections across the Pune region, said the officials.

The dark stores are franchises given by these quick commerce companies. These companies are supposed to give the FDA the information about their franchise. However, it is not covered under the law.

Annapure said, “Once we get the contact details, we will send a letter to these companies to share details of their dark stores. This will help us to conduct the inspection across the region and make sure they follow the food safety and hygiene norms. The drive will help the public at large as the dark stores will focus on improving the food safety handling and storage practices.”

After the Zepto incident, the FDA has increased its focus on quick commerce services, which have become extremely popular in recent years for delivering groceries and food items in 10–15 minutes. The state government has asked the FDA to ensure that all such facilities follow proper hygiene and safety rules, said the officials.

Author Credits- Vicky Pathare
Hindustan Times