FREE WATER FOR EVERY CUSTOMER IN HOTELS , RESTAURANTS

Free water mandatory: All restaurants, hotels, dhabas, canteens, cafeterias, banquet halls, bakeries, food courts, cloud kitchens, and even online food platforms must provide safe drinking water free of cost.

No forced bottled water: Establishments cannot force you to buy bottled water.

Notice required: They must display notices in Marathi and English telling customers free drinking water is available.

Bottled water = optional: They can still sell bottled water, but it can’t replace the free option. 9dd963a6

Why: FDA Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe said access to safe food and water is a fundamental right. This comes after years of complaints about hotels denying free municipal water and pushing bottled water instead.

Other rules in the same order:

Ban on serving food in newspapers — only food-grade packaging allowed.

Staff need regular medical exams and FoSTaC training.

Strict limits on reusing cooking oil.

Large chains must list calories, allergens, and veg/non-veg status on menus. 

Penalties: Serving unsafe food can mean 7 years to life imprisonment + ₹10 lakh fine if someone dies. Operating without FSSAI license = up to ₹10 lakh fine. 

Bigger context: This matches national law. The FSSAI and Consumer Affairs Dept clarified in 2017 that forcing customers to buy bottled water over free tap water is an “unfair trade practice”. Consumer courts have already fined restaurants for denying free water — a Faridabad court in Jan 2026 penalized Garden Grills 2.0 for making a diner buy a ₹40 bottle .