The Supreme Court has lifted the ban on Hookah as of 2014 thus, bringing back the popular culture in India. The article highlights the licenses and registration requirements of a hookah parlor in India.

License From Police Commissioner For Hookah Parlor

The Supreme Court recently held that a trade license is enough for hookah lounges.

• To obtain such a license, an application has to be made to police commissioner.
• The commissioner may grant the permission subject to conditions that- teenagers should not be allowed .
• Ingredients used in hookah should be permissible and should not be against anti-tobacco law.
• It cannot be located within 100 yards of any educational institution and hookah cannot be sold/made available to an person below 18 years of age.

This is given at the discretion of the Police Commissioner and hence, a little difficult to obtain.

You will also need to have Trade License from local municipal authority or will need to get registered under Shops and Establishment Act. The price usually vary from city to city.

Moreover, it must be kept in mind that-

1. The smoking area is separated from restaurant area.
2. Majority of the space is used as a restaurant.
3. You cannot have shisha lounge alone.
4. A restaurant is a must and hence, all the licenses required for a restaurant would also be applicable to the hookah parlor.

Hookah Parlor Trade License

An application for a trade license can be made either at a Citizen’s service Bureaus (CSB) or through the internet.

In the case of the application filed through internet- the applicant can submit the necessary documents at any of the CSB’s, after marking the document with the distinct recognition number, allotted to his application on the internet.

For getting a new Trade License from the nearest CSB- an application form is to be submitted at the CSB which is available for Rs.25.

You can also download a form available on our web site and use it for this purpose.

After submitting the application with the necessary documents, the operator will feed in your details to the computer. Processing fees will have to be paid subsequent to which a G8 receipt shall be given.

This G8 receipt will contain the unique “Registration number” which must be memorized and quoted for further processing. Subsequent to this a License Inspector will visit the site for inspection.

Once the inspection and approval is complete, an email will be sent notifying the entrepreneur of the same.

Now the CSB must be approached again and provide them with the “Registration number “. The operator will search for your details in the database using this number.                           If the details are present, the operator will print the Health Trade License and cut a G8 receipt.

Pay the license fees and processing charges to the operator. The Municipal Corporation officials will sign the Trade license then.

Documents Required-

• Copy of sanction plan/ completion certificate / structure safety certificate from registered architect.
• Site Plan.
• Key Plan.
• Water connection and sewer connection.
• Indemnity Bond for Rs.100
• Affidavit for Rs.10/7 & Copy of partnership deed if any.

Hookah Parlor License Fees

An amount of Rs.500/- per application will be collected as processing charges and Rs.300/- will be charged as the license fees.

In regard to the fees for license processing, Rs.250/- will be collected as the Processing at the time of acceptance of the application form for the issue of a New License.

Food License

It is one of the primary requirements to obtain a license under FSS (Licensing & Registration of Food Businesses) Regulations 2011.

• Every restaurant owner has to first register their business with FSSAI.
• No person shall commence or carry on any food business except under a license with an exception of a tiny food business operator but they shall register themselves with food authority.
• Carrying business without a license will be treated as a legal offense, thus, making the restaurant liable to pay penalties.

FSSAI license is basically a 14 digit registration number which is printed on food packages. Based on Annual Turnover a Food Business Operator (FBO) has to either apply for simple registration in FORM A with FSSAI or apply for a License given by FSSAI in FORM B.

The Documents Required For FORM A Are –

• Passport size photograph of Food Business operator.
• Document for Identity Proof like Passport, Aadhar Card ,Senior Citizen Card Ration Card, Voter ID Card, PAN Card, Driving License, Department Issued ID.
• Supporting Documents (if any)- NOC by Municipality/Panchayat, Health NOC.

Documents Required For FORM B Are –

• Form B must be appropriately completed and signed (in duplicate) by the proprietor or partner of the authorized signatory. It is mandatory for all.
• It is mandatory for manufacturing and processing units to provide a blueprint plan of the processing units which shows the dimensions in meters or squares and operation wise area allocation along with name list of Equipments and Machinery with their number, installed capacity and horse power used.
• It is mandatory for companies to furnish the list of Partners/Proprietor/Executive Members of Society with complete address and contact details.
• Address proof and Photo ID issued by Government authority.
• Analysis report (Chemical & Bacteriological) of water to be used as ingredient in food from a recognized/ public health laboratory to confirm the potability. (mandatory only for manufacturing and processing units only).
• Proof of possession of premises. (Sale deed/ Rent agreement/ Electricity bill, etc.) (optional)
• Partnership Deed/Affidavit of Proprietorship/Memorandum & Articles of Association towards the constitution of the firm. (optional)
  For MoA – Three pages need to be uploaded (First page – Certification of incorporation, Second page – Authorization of food business activity and Third page – list of directors with addresses)
• Copy of certificate obtained under Co-Op Act – 1861/Multi State Co-Op Act – 2002 in case of Co-operatives. (wherever applicable)
• NOC & Copy of License from manufacturer (mandatory for re-labels and re-packers only.
• Food Safety Management System plan or certificate. (if any)
• Source of milk or procurement plan for milk including location of milk collection centre’s etc. in case of Milk and Milk Products processing units.(wherever applicable)
• Source of raw material for meat and meat processing plants. (wherever applicable)
• Pesticide residues report of water in case of units manufacturing packaged drinking water, packaged mineral water and/or carbonated water from a recognised public health laboratory.
• Recall plan wherever applicable, with details on whom the product is distributed. (optional)
• NOCs from Municipality or local body. (optional)
• Form IX: Nomination of Persons by a Company along with the Board Resolution.
• For Transporters-Supporting documentary proof for Turnover or self declaration of number of vehicles.
• Upload Production unit photograph,
• Declaration form.

Documents For FORM C Are-

• List of Directors with full address and contact details. (mandatory for companies only)
• Photo ID and address proof issued by Government authority of Proprietor/Partner/Director(s)/Authorized Signatory. (optional)
• Authority letter with name and address of responsible person nominated by the manufacturer along with alternative responsible person indicating the powers vested with them viz assisting the officers in inspections, collection of samples, packing & dispatch.
• Proof of possession of premises. (Sale deed/ Rent agreement/ Electricity bill, etc.) (optional).
• Partnership Deed/Affidavit/Memorandum & Articles of Association towards the constitution of the firm. (Optional).
• Copy of certificate obtained under Co-Op Act – 1861/Multi State Co-Op Act – 2002 in case of Co-Operatives. (Wherever applicable).
• Food Safety Management System plan or certificate (if any).
• Source of milk or procurement plan for milk including location of milk collection centre’s etc. in case of Milk and Milk Products processing units.(wherever applicable).
• Source of raw material for meat and meat processing plants. (wherever applicable).
• Pesticide residues report of water in case of units manufacturing packaged drinking water, packaged Mineral water and/or carbonated water from a recognized/ public health laboratory.
• Recall plan wherever applicable, with details on whom the product is distributed. (Optional).
• NOCs from Municipality or local body. (optional).
• Supporting document proof for turnover.
• NOC/PA document issued by FSSAI.
• IE Code document issued by DGFT.
• Form IX Nomination of persons by a company along with the board resolution.
• Declaration form.

Health Trade License For Hookah Parlor

The restaurant owner has to obtain a health trade license which is issued by the municipal corporation or the health department of the concerned state.

License For Eating House

The restaurant owner has to apply for the Eating House License under the city/state police headquarters and the police commissioner who is authorized to grant this license.

In most of the cities the applicant can apply online for grant of the registration certificate.

Fire Security Certificate For Hookah Parlor

The restaurant premises should have proper fire security arrangements and for this one has to acquire NOC from the fire department.

Once you apply, the inspection would be carried out and the decision will be taken by the officials of the Fire Department for the grant of the NOC.

• An Analysis of Smoking laws in India

Shops And Establishment License For Hookah Parlor

Each of these business structures have their own form of registration requirements but an aspect that remains common to all three forms is the Shop and establishment license which is given by the inspector of that area.

All business are required to be registered under the Shops and Establishments Act with the inspectorate of that area. This must be done within a month’s time of setting up the business, subsequent to which a statement is to be issued to inspector.

This Statement That You Will Send To The Inspector Will Contain-

• Name of the employer.
• The name and address of the business including the Postal Address.
• Category of business.
• Number of employees employed.
• Date on which the establishment commenced business.

Documents For Registration Under This Act Are-

• Commercial Address Proof.
• Identity Proof.
• Pan Card.
• Fee payment Challan.

The processing fee for this license is usually between 125 rupees  to 12,500 rupees, depending upon the number of employees and manpower you are employing for the business.

A license shall be issued immediately if all the details in the application are accepted.

Opening A Current Account And Tax Registration

To organize your financial records separately you need to open a separate bank account for your jewelry business. This helps in getting cash credit or loans from bank or financial institutions.

Before getting your sales tax registration you must have to open a bank account with any private or PSU banks as bank statement of your business is a mandatory document to get registered with sales tax department.

You can start a hookah shop as a proprietor or partnership firm or private limited company or LLP.

The Business structure depends on the size of your business. You can also start as a proprietor or partnership firm and then convert it to private limited at a later point of time once business turnover shows improvement.

Procedure:

• A service tax registration number and a VAT/CST number along with a letter from a CA stating the nature of your business letterhead having the firm’s name and address and stamp in the name of the proprietor.
• After you submit all these documentation and registration copies to the bank, you can obtain a current account for your business.

You are required to have a minimum bale ranging from five to twenty five thousand in this account.

This’s all about Hookah Parlor in India: Licensing And Registration Needs for now. Did you find this post useful?  Let us know in the comments section below. Don’t forget to Share!!