FDA suspends licences of Vaishali and Rupali restaurants on Pune's FC Road after hygiene checks

Maharashtra's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has suspended, with immediate effect, the food business licences of two of Pune's best-known eateries, Hotel Vaishali and Rupali Restaurant. Both are on Fergusson College (FC) Road in Shivajinagar. The Pune division of the department said inspections turned up serious breaches of food safety and hygiene rules. The department's commissioner is IAS officer Tukaram Mundhe.

Both establishments were checked on November 13, 2026, as part of the FDA's "Safe Food, Safe Maharashtra" campaign. Officials said the deficiencies at each place could put food safety and public health at risk.

Hotel Vaishali is at No. 1218 on FC Road. Food Safety Officer Ajinkya Subhash Umap inspected it and gave it 58 marks out of 98. That placed it in the "non-compliance" category.

The kitchen was cramped, officials said. The freezer holding raw material stood against the women's washroom, and the griddle used for dosa and uttapam was beside the men's washroom. Washed utensils had been left on a table outside the washroom.

Boiled potatoes, cooked rice and other prepared items were stored in an open corridor, and idli and dosa batter was being made in an exposed area with no protection. Cut raw vegetables sat directly above ready-to-eat food, which inspectors flagged as a cross-contamination risk.

The kitchen doors had no insect screens. The hotel could not show any temperature monitoring records or a recent test report for its drinking water. No supervisor with valid FoSTaC (Food Safety Training and Certification) training was present during the visit.

The FDA said it had inspected the hotel earlier, in June 2026, and had served a notice asking it to fix the problems. Serious lapses were found again this time. Assistant Commissioner (Food) Syed Imran Hashmi, who is also the Designated Officer, therefore ordered the immediate suspension of the hotel's licence, numbered 11524035000395.

Rupali Restaurant is at No. 1227/2 on FC Road. Food Safety Officer A. D. Zhanjurne inspected it on the same day, November 13, 2026. A hearing followed, and the suspension order was issued that same day.

The restaurant's kitchen was open and poorly covered, so dust, dirt and insects could easily reach the cooking area. Water had collected on the premises, cleaning was not done properly and arrangements for waste disposal were inadequate.

Storage was another major concern. Raw material, semi-prepared food and ready-to-eat items were found uncovered, with no labels and no "use by" dates. Raw and cooked food were not kept apart, and there were no temperature control records. The restaurant also could not produce a Food Safety Management System (FSMS) plan, Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) or FoSTaC training records.

Summing up the findings, the FDA said that at both places kitchens were unclean, food was left uncovered and food safety rules were ignored. The department said the action was taken under the guidance of Joint Commissioner Shrikant R. Karkale, on the orders of Mr Hashmi.

Until further orders, neither restaurant may carry on any food business. The bar covers dine-in sales, takeaway, parcels and home delivery.

Officials clarified that the restaurants can reopen only after they remove all the major deficiencies and pass a fresh inspection against the prescribed standards. They must also obtain written permission from the FDA. The department described the action as part of its wider effort to enforce food safety standards in Maharashtra's restaurants and to make sure food is prepared in hygienic conditions.