Maharashtra’s latest restaurant inspections are giving a clearer picture of what the state Food and Drug Administration is targeting under Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe. From August 4 to 6, the FDA inspected 63 hotels, restaurants and dhabas across Maharashtra, issued 38 improvement notices and suspended seven food-business licences. The Maharashtra FDA’s official website currently lists Mundhe as Commissioner.
The individual inspection reports show that the crackdown is not focused on one problem such as food adulteration. Officials are repeatedly citing pest infestations, poor kitchen sanitation, unsafe storage practices, missing temperature controls, inadequate staff records, lack of required training and businesses operating without proper food licences or registrations.
At the same time, the broader data adds important context. Most establishments inspected during the larger statewide drive did not require corrective action, so the enforcement numbers should not be read as evidence that most Maharashtra restaurants are failing food-safety checks.
What are FDA inspectors finding inside restaurants?
Recent action in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai provides some of the clearest examples.
At Eat Nino in Dadar, the FDA said inspectors found insect infestation, poor personal hygiene among food handlers and inadequate cleaning. Officials also reported missing food and drinking-water testing records, absence of required FoSTaC training and medical records, and failures to implement Good Manufacturing Practices and Good Hygiene Practices.
At Jai Maa Kali Dhaba in Andheri, inspectors reported damaged plywood and rusted storage racks, food stored close to toilets, refrigerators without temperature displays and poor kitchen cleanliness. They also reported flies on uncovered dough.
The findings at House of Maharashtra in Santacruz involved a different mix of problems. According to the FDA findings reported by NDTV Profit, inspectors found cockroach infestation, non-food-grade material and newspapers being used for food packaging, missing pest-control documentation, peeling paint in a storage area and rusted kitchen equipment.
South India Dosa Corner in Kurla was cited for improper waste disposal, inadequate cleaning and missing medical, vaccination and food-safety training records. The regulator also said the establishment had not corrected deficiencies identified in an earlier notice.
In Navi Mumbai, the FDA suspended the licence of a Punjab Grill outlet after inspectors reported cockroach infestation, stagnant water, unhygienic conditions and missing mandatory records.
These are findings reported by the regulator during inspections. They should not be treated as a claim that every restaurant in a particular chain or every Maharashtra food business has the same problems.
The violations reveal a recurring pattern
Looking across the recent inspection reports, several categories keep appearing.
Pest control and sanitation are among the most visible. Cockroaches, flies, dirty kitchen areas, inadequate cleaning and poorly maintained drains have appeared in multiple FDA reports. Food storage is another recurring issue, including food placed near unsuitable areas, poor separation of raw and cooked items and damaged storage equipment.
Temperature monitoring is also receiving attention. Inspectors have cited refrigerators without temperature displays and inadequate monitoring of storage temperatures. Documentation matters as well: food and water testing records, pest-control certificates, employee medical records, vaccination records and food-safety training records have all appeared in recent enforcement findings.
These checks fit within the wider FSSAI compliance framework. FSSAI says licensed food businesses must follow a documented Food Safety Management System and comply with Schedule 4 of the licensing regulations. For catering and food-service businesses, that framework includes Good Manufacturing Practices and Good Hygiene Practices designed to control food-safety hazards throughout operations.
That helps explain why an FDA inspection extends far beyond whether a dining room appears clean to customers. Regulators can examine storage, pest control, employee hygiene, records, equipment condition and the systems used to handle food behind the scenes.
How widespread is the crackdown?
The statewide numbers put the recent restaurant raids in perspective.
Between May 25 and July 31, 2026, the Maharashtra FDA inspected 3,137 food establishments. According to enforcement data reported by Free Press Journal, 2,373 establishments, or 75.6 percent, did not require corrective action. The FDA issued 764 improvement notices and suspended 165 licences during that period.
Hotels, restaurants and dhabas accounted for 890 of those inspections. Of these, 561 were reported compliant and 329 received improvement notices. The FDA also suspended 116 licences among the 890 establishments inspected.
An important distinction is that the 116 licence suspensions should not be added to the 561 compliant establishments and 329 improvement notices as though all three figures represent separate groups. The published data says 561 were compliant and 329 received improvement notices, which already accounts for the 890 establishments. Licence suspension is an additional enforcement outcome reported within the inspected group.
This makes the picture more balanced than the raid headlines alone suggest. The FDA is taking serious action against some outlets, but approximately 63 percent of the hotels, restaurants and dhabas in that inspection dataset were reported compliant.
The crackdown is also reaching institutional kitchens
Restaurants are not the only food-service operations being checked.
On August 8, the FDA said two mess facilities at IIT Bombay had been directed to stop operations after inspectors found that they lacked the necessary food permissions or registrations. Other hostel mess facilities inspected on the campus were told to correct identified shortcomings.
The regulator has also acted against several Mumbai clubs. Recent inspections cited problems including pest infestation, mouldy vegetables, expired food items, poor drainage, inadequate temperature monitoring, damaged equipment, poor separation of raw and cooked food and missing employee records.
Taken together, the actions suggest that the current enforcement strategy is examining food-service operations across restaurants, clubs, institutional kitchens and other establishments rather than restricting scrutiny to one type of business.
Does a licence suspension mean permanent closure?
No. The legal process is more nuanced.
Section 32 of the Food Safety and Standards Act says an improvement notice must identify the deficiencies, specify the corrective measures required and normally give the food business operator at least 14 days to comply. A licence may be suspended if the operator fails to comply. The law also allows immediate suspension in the interest of public health, but the reasons must be recorded in writing.
This distinction has become particularly important because the Bombay High Court has scrutinised some immediate suspensions during the current FDA drive. Recent proceedings have questioned whether emergency suspension powers were justified in cases involving routine hygiene or infrastructure deficiencies rather than a demonstrated immediate public-health risk.
The legal scrutiny does not erase the violations inspectors report, but it does mean that an inspection finding, an improvement notice and an immediate licence suspension are not interchangeable. Each represents a different stage or level of regulatory action.
What the crackdown is really showing
The strongest conclusion from the inspection data is not that Maharashtra restaurants as a whole are unsafe. In the May 25 to July 31 hospitality inspections, a majority of establishments were reported compliant.
What stands out instead is the consistency of the problems found at outlets that did fail inspections. Pest control, sanitation, food storage, temperature monitoring, staff hygiene, training, documentation and licensing repeatedly appear across unrelated establishments.
That is what makes the Tukaram Mundhe-led crackdown more significant than a series of individual restaurant raids. The FDA is examining the operational systems behind the food customers receive, while the growing legal scrutiny is simultaneously testing how aggressively the regulator can act when deficiencies are found.
For diners, the recent reports offer a rare look at problems that are usually invisible from the dining table. For food businesses, they show that compliance now depends on much more than maintaining a presentable restaurant front: regulators are looking closely at what happens inside kitchens, storage areas and food-safety records as well.
