Govt Likely To Increase Oversight Of Quick Commerce Firms’ Dark Stores

With the quick commerce companies, specifically those operating dark stores for fast food delivery, facing growing issues over hygiene and safety standards, the Centre is reportedly looking to tighten the norms for rapid delivery operations.

This comes amid recent Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) crackdowns on Zepto and Blinkit over unsafe food storage practices. 

While the FDA suspended the food business licence of Zepto’s parent company Kiranakart Technologies due to lapses found at its dark store in Mumbai’s Dharavi, earlier this month, the food safety agency ordered closure of a dark store associated with Blinkit in Pune’s Balewadi area days ago, for allegedly operating without a licence.

An ET report, citing senior officials from the consumer affairs ministry, said that the government has taken cognisance of recent food safety complaints amid poor sanitary conditions from where deliveries are made.

“It’s a work in progress… the government has been receiving several complaints from consumers as well as retailers and vendors,” one of the senior government officials was quoted as saying. “It’s a serious issue that multiple departments will need to work together towards to address.”

A few officials confirmed that the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is expected to take the lead on this campaign, where it plans to increase surprise inspections at dark stores, warehouses and other storage units of quick commerce giants across India.

It is pertinent to note that every food business operator in India needs to adhere to the rules and regulations mentioned in the  Regulation 2.1.1(4) of Food Safety and Standards (Licensing and Registration of Food Businesses) Regulations 2011.

Quick commerce is one of the fastest growing sectors in India. The market is projected to reach a size of $9.95 Bn by 2029, clocking a 16.60% CAGR. Quick commerce accounted for over two-thirds of all online grocery orders in 2024.

In the light of the segment’s rapid growth in recent times, quick commerce businesses are aggressively expanding their dark stores’ count throughout the country. 

To note, Blinkit set up a record 294 new stores in Q4 FY25 and Instamart added 316 dark stores during the quarter, which essentially resulted in rising losses of the quick commerce verticals of Zomato and Blinkit.

Meanwhile, Flipkart, in competition with the market leaders, also reportedly expanded its ‘Minutes’ by setting up more than 200 dark stores across 14 cities, in April.