The All India Consumer Products Distributors Federation (AICPDF) has raised concerns over food-safety and hygiene violations reported at quick-commerce dark stores across Maharashtra, questioning the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) over the lack of a uniform regulatory framework for such facilities.
The comments come after a Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) inspection drive covering 86 establishments involved in online food storage and delivery. According to AICPDF, the FDA suspended 14 food-business licences linked to Blinkit, Zepto and Swiggy Instamart after finding deficiencies related to food storage, temperature control, cleanliness, pest control, worker hygiene and food handling. Expired food products were also found at a Zepto outlet in Pune.
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AICPDF welcomed the Maharashtra FDA's action but questioned whether enforcement should have to follow incidents and complaints. The federation's concerns intensified after a viral video allegedly showed a live rat inside an ice-cream storage crate at a Blinkit outlet in Kalyan's Godrej Hill area. AICPDF said the incident raises broader questions about pest control, sanitation, stock inspection, segregation of affected products and preventive food-safety systems.
"Consumers should not have to become food inspectors checking dates, packaging and storage conditions," AICPDF National President Dhairyashil H. Patil said.
The federation also cited other reported violations in Maharashtra, including hygiene deficiencies and cockroach infestation at a Blinkit dark store in Malad West, alleged licensing and storage deficiencies at a Blinkit-associated facility in Pune, and reported fungal growth, inadequate cold-storage temperature and expired food at a Zepto facility in Dharavi.
AICPDF said these incidents highlight the need for quick-commerce platforms to follow the same food-safety standards applicable to traditional distributors, stockists and retailers.
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AICPDF Proposes SKU-to-Space Ratio
AICPDF said it had already approached FSSAI and the Union Health Minister seeking mandatory, scientifically determined storage and hygiene norms specifically for quick-commerce dark stores.
The federation has proposed a scientific SKU-to-space framework, arguing that facilities storing thousands of products need adequate physical space for segregation, movement, temperature management and hygiene.
Its proposed methodology is:
Minimum Floor Area = Number of SKUs × 0.35-0.40 sq. ft.
For a dark store handling around 65,000 SKUs, this would translate into approximately 23,000-26,000 sq. ft. of floor area, subject to scientific validation and adjustments based on product categories, refrigeration and movement requirements.
AICPDF has urged FSSAI to validate the methodology and establish statutory standards instead of allowing storage capacity to be determined purely by commercial considerations.
The proposed framework includes minimum storage and floor space, adequate aisles, scientific segregation of food categories, dedicated areas for damaged and expired products, cold-chain compliance, pest control, ventilation, periodic audits, capacity declarations, traceability and surprise inspections.
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AICPDF's Demands
The federation has called for comprehensive nationwide inspections of quick-commerce dark stores and mandatory verification of licences, pest-control systems, refrigeration and temperature records, product expiry dates, worker hygiene and food-handling practices.
It has also sought a uniform national standard operating procedure for food safety across quick-commerce warehouses and dark stores, along with greater accountability for platforms and third-party operators.
"Quick commerce may promise delivery in 10 minutes, but food safety cannot operate on a 10-minute business model," Patil said. "We welcome the Maharashtra FDA's action, but enforcement cannot begin only after a video goes viral."
AICPDF said it is not opposed to quick commerce or technology but wants the same food-safety standards to apply across traditional trade and digital retail.
''Same product. Same consumer. Same food-safety law. Same accountability,'' the federation said.
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