Indian Railways to Launch Surprise Food Safety Audits in Pune, Cancel Licences for Serious Violations
Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Quality Council of India (QCI) to conduct independent food quality and hygiene audits across the Indian Railways network.
In Pune, QCI teams will begin inspecting base kitchens, train catering services and station food stalls this week as part of the phased rollout.
The inspections will be conducted without prior notice and cover base kitchens, food served on moving trains, station-based catering units, Food Plazas, Jan Ahaar outlets and catering stalls. Certified independent professionals will carry out quarterly and half-yearly inspection cycles.
The move follows passenger complaints about stale food, poor hygiene, hair and insects in meals, excessive oil and spices, and instances of non-vegetarian food being served to vegetarian passengers. Concerns have also been raised about vegetarian and non-vegetarian meals being prepared in shared kitchen areas.
Gaurav Jha, Group General Manager, IRCTC, Mumbai, said the third-party audits aim to ensure better food quality and hygiene for railway passengers. He added that inspections would take place without prior notice and that negligence could lead to fines as well as cancellation of catering licences.
The audit process will use a dedicated mobile application to record GPS locations, timestamps and photographic evidence. Reports must be submitted digitally to senior authorities within 24 hours, enabling faster corrective action and enforcement.
The inspections will assess compliance with Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) regulations and international culinary hygiene standards. Catering staff and food handlers will be required to wear aprons, gloves and head caps, maintain valid medical certificates and follow prescribed hygiene practices. Violations involving expired food, unclean clothing, inappropriate behaviour towards passengers and inadequate pest control will attract action.
Serious or repeated violations could result in catering contract termination and licence cancellation, moving beyond the smaller fines previously imposed for non-compliance.
Over the past three years, IRCTC has imposed financial penalties totalling ₹5.13 crore, issued 54 show-cause notices and terminated six catering contracts. Non-compliant licensees have also been debarred, with their names published on the official IRCTC website.
Indian Railways serves approximately 58 crore meals annually, catering to around 20 lakh passengers daily across nearly 800 trains.
Existing measures to improve food safety include modernised base kitchens at select locations, CCTV surveillance of food preparation, the use of branded raw materials, deployment of Food Safety Supervisors in base kitchens and IRCTC supervisors onboard trains, and periodic deep cleaning and pest control in kitchens and pantry cars.
