FDA suspends licences of Hotel Vaishali and Rupali on Pune's FC Road after hygiene inspections

The Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has suspended, with immediate effect, the food business licences of two well-known eateries on Fergusson College (FC) Road in Shivajinagar, Pune. They are Hotel Vaishali and Rupali Restaurant. Inspections carried out on November 13, 2026 found serious breaches of food safety and hygiene rules. The FDA's Pune division acted under its "Safe Food, Safe Maharashtra" campaign.

FDA officials said the campaign has run for the past few months. In that time the department has been acting against large and popular hotels in several cities of the state, Mumbai and Pune among them. The department described both suspensions as steps taken in the interest of public health. The FDA's commissioner is IAS officer Tukaram Mundhe.

Hotel Vaishali is at No. 1218 on FC Road. Food Safety Officer Ajinkya Subhash Umap inspected it on November 13. The hotel scored 58 out of 98 and was placed in the "non-compliance" category.

Officials said the kitchen was so short of space that the freezer for raw material stood against the women's washroom. The griddle for dosa and uttapam was next to the men's washroom, and washed utensils were lying on a table outside it. Boiled potatoes, cooked rice and other prepared items were left in an open corridor. Idli and dosa batter was being made in an open, unprotected spot. Cut raw vegetables sat directly above ready-to-eat food, which the inspectors flagged as a risk of cross-contamination.

The inspectors also noted that the kitchen doors had no insect screens. There were no temperature monitoring records, and the hotel could not produce a recent drinking water test report. No supervisor with valid FoSTaC (Food Safety Training and Certification) credentials was present during the visit.

This was not the first warning. The FDA said it had inspected the hotel in June 2026 and served a notice asking it to correct its shortcomings. Serious irregularities turned up again in November. Assistant Commissioner (Food) Syed Imran Hashmi, the Designated Officer, then ordered the immediate suspension of the hotel's food business licence, No. 11524035000395.

Rupali Restaurant is at No. 1227/2 on FC Road. It was inspected on November 13 by Food Safety Officer A. D. Zhanjurne. (One filing spells the name Zanjurne.) A hearing followed the inspection, and the suspension order was issued the same day.

The FDA found the restaurant's kitchen open and poorly covered, leaving the cooking area exposed to dust, dirt and insects. Water had collected on the premises, cleaning was not being done properly and waste disposal was inadequate. Raw material, semi-prepared food and ready-to-eat items were stored uncovered. None carried labels or "use by" dates. Raw and cooked food were not kept apart, and no temperature control records existed. The restaurant also lacked basic paperwork, including a Food Safety Management System (FSMS) plan, Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and FoSTaC training records.

The action was taken under the guidance of Joint Commissioner Shrikant R. Karkale and on the orders of Mr Hashmi.

Both establishments are barred from any food business until further orders. The bar covers dine-in sales, takeaway, parcels and home delivery. Each can reopen only after it removes all major deficiencies and passes a fresh inspection against the prescribed standards. It must also obtain written permission from the department. The FDA said the move is part of its effort to enforce food safety standards in the state's restaurants and make sure food is prepared hygienically.

Vaishali and Rupali are familiar names in Pune's food culture, and the suspensions have drawn the attention of food lovers in the city. The FDA stressed that the action rests on the hygiene and safety lapses recorded during the inspections, not on how popular the establishments are.