Found Unsafe or Adulterated Food in Nagpur? You Can Now Complain in Marathi — Just by Speaking

Food from a restaurant made you ill? A packet looks counterfeit? Milk you suspect is adulterated? Gutkha being sold openly?

Most Nagpurkars do nothing in these situations, for one simple reason: nobody knows where the complaint is supposed to go. But the Food and Drug Administration has opened a dedicated citizen complaint portal, and it does three things that government portals almost never do together:

• You can complain in Marathi
• If typing is hard, you can speak your complaint instead
• You get a complaint number — and you can see which officer is handling your file

That last one is the real departure. This guide is how to use it.

Step 0 — Before you complain: check the licence

Most people don’t know this. No restaurant, bakery, shop or food vendor may operate without an FSSAI licence or registration.

FSSAI’s FoSCoS system carries an FBO Search facility, where you can check for yourself whether an establishment’s licence actually exists and is valid: foscos.fssai.gov.in

FSSAI’s own description of its Food Safety Connect initiative says it exists so a consumer can share concerns, know their rights, and track a food business operator’s licence or registration certificate authenticity.

Why it matters: if your complaint can say “this place has no licence at all”, it moves into a different and far more serious category.

Step 1 — The state FDA complaint portal

🔗 complaints.mahafda.in

The portal’s motto: “सुरक्षित अन्न, सुरक्षित औषधे, सुरक्षित महाराष्ट्र” — safe food, safe medicines, safe Maharashtra.

First, a reasonable suspicion, dealt with

This portal’s address does not end in .gov.in, which makes it look like it might be fake. It is genuine. The link appears on the Food and Drug Administration’s own government website, on its Grievance Redressal page, under the heading “FDA (Government of Maharashtra)”. Its official notices are published as PDFs on the government’s own server.

Being suspicious of a non-.gov.in address is the right instinct. In this case the portal checks out.

How to file

Step	What happens
1. Tell us the complaint	Describe what happened in Marathi, Hindi or English — type it or speak it
2. AI checks it	The portal’s assistant verifies the details and drafts the complaint for you
3. Officers act	It reaches the correct Food Safety Officer, who investigates and acts

The detailed flow, from the portal’s own Help page:

1. Log in with your mobile number and OTP
2. Tap “File a complaint”
3. Describe the problem in your own words — type or speak
4. Your exact location is captured automatically
5. Attach a photo or bill if you have one
6. Accept the consent notice and submit
7. You receive a complaint number to track it

After you file

Under “My complaints” the portal shows you the current status, which officer is handling it, and any updates or actions taken so far.

That is the meaningful difference. A government complaint normally disappears into the system. Here you can see whose desk it is on, by name.

Step 2 — FSSAI’s Food Safety Connect (Government of India)

Alongside the state machinery there is a separate central route:

• 🔗 foscos.fssai.gov.in/consumergrievance
• 📞 1800-11-2100
• 📧 helpdesk-foscos@fssai.gov.in

Per FSSAI’s official description, Food Safety Connect lets a citizen do three things: raise a concern, know their rights, and verify a food business’s licence.

This number is displayed consistently across FSSAI’s pages, so there is no ambiguity about using it.

Step 3 — Which portal for which problem

The Food and Drug Administration’s own grievance page lists five official channels:

What the complaint is about	Where it goes
Food, medicines, cosmetics regulated by the state FDA	complaints.mahafda.in
Drug quality, counterfeit medicines, medical devices (Central — CDSCO)	cdscoonline.gov.in
Food safety, hygiene, misleading labelling (Central — FSSAI)	foscos.fssai.gov.in/consumergrievance
Any central government ministry or department	pgportal.gov.in (CPGRAMS)
State government services generally	grievances.maharashtra.gov.in

Step 4 — Who handles it in Nagpur

Even a complaint filed online lands with the Nagpur Division office. Per the FDA’s official directory:

Office	Contact	Address
Joint Commissioner (Division), Nagpur	jcnagpur_fda@gov.in	New Administrative Building No. 2, 5th Floor, Opposite District Council, Old Secretariat Complex, Civil Lines, Nagpur – 440001
Assistant Director, Nagpur (food testing laboratory)	ftlnagpur2016@gmail.com · 0712-2789858	Mouje Babulkheda, Plot No. E 1 to 3, Shri Nath Sai Nagar, Mane Wada, Ring Road, Nagpur

Other Vidarbha offices: Bhandara (near LIC Office, 441904) · Chandrapur (Rooms 21–22, 2nd Floor, New Administrative Building, 441401) · Gadchiroli (Unit 2, Block 2, Complex, 442605) · Amravati Joint Commissioner (Jawade Compound, Mal Tekdi Road, near ST Stand, 444602). Sources: FDA Directory · FDA Offices list.

State headquarters: Commissioner, Food and Drug Administration — comm.fda-mah@nic.in · 022-26122652 · 4th Floor, Survey No. 341, Bandra Kurla Complex, Opposite Reserve Bank of India, Bandra (East), Mumbai 400 051. The current Commissioner is Shri Tukaram Mundhe (IAS). Source: FDA Who’s Who.

Step 5 — How long the department has to act

The Government of Maharashtra’s Citizen Charter 2025 sets time limits for the Food and Drug Administration’s services:

Service	Limit
Food business registration	21 days
Food business licence	45 days
Retail / wholesale pharmacy licence	30 days
Drug manufacturing licence	60 days
Pharmacy licence renewal	10 days
Non-criminal certificate	10 days
Small-scale drug production permit	20 days
Testing authorisation	15 days
GMP certificate	30 days

And if the deadline passes, there is a three-tier appeal: First Appeal Officer (assistant or associate commissioner, by service type) → Second Appeal Officer (senior deputy commissioner or commissioner) → Commissioner. Sources: Citizen Charter 2025 (PDF) · FDA Citizen Charter page.

Step 6 — If nothing happens

1. Email the Nagpur Joint Commissioner (jcnagpur_fda@gov.in) quoting your complaint number, copying headquarters (comm.fda-mah@nic.in)
2. Maharashtra state grievance portal — grievances.maharashtra.gov.in
3. Right to Information Act, 2005 — “What action has been taken on my complaint number ___ to date? Please supply a copy of the relevant noting and order.” Fee ₹10, normal reply period 30 days.

RTI is the most effective step, because “it is in process” is not an acceptable answer — a written reason has to be given.

What the department actually does — two official examples

Two of the notices the Food and Drug Administration has published itself:

1. Drug alert — Coldrif cough syrup, Batch No. SR-13. Sale, distribution and use were ordered stopped immediately after the batch was found adulterated with Diethylene Glycol (DEG).

2. Vehicles seized for transporting prohibited food products. Vehicles caught carrying prohibited food products have been seized. Owners or their authorised representatives must claim them within seven days with the required documents; unclaimed vehicles may be auctioned or disposed of as permitted by law.

Complaints and inspections do lead to action — and that action is published.

Frequently asked questions

All official sources

Government of Maharashtra — Food and Drug Administration

• Official website
• Citizen complaint portal
• Grievance Redressal — all channels
• Who’s Who
• Directory — division-wise contacts
• List of offices
• Citizen Charter 2025 (PDF)
• State grievance portal

Government of India

• FSSAI — Food Safety Connect
• FoSCoS (licence verification)
• CDSCO — report a drug problem
• CPGRAMS
• Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 (full Act)