Raut Alleges FDA Officials Extorting Lakhs From Eateries, Quick Commerce Firms, Seeks Probe

MUMBAI, Sept 28: Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Monday accused officials of Maharashtra’s Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) of allegedly extorting money from eateries and quick commerce companies by threatening them with licence suspensions. He called for an independent inquiry into the allegations.

In a letter addressed to FDA Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe, the Rajya Sabha MP claimed that officials at the agency’s Bandra headquarters and Thane office were allegedly using inspections and enforcement drives to pressure business operators into paying money.

Raut said operators from Nagpur, Pune, Solapur, Wardha and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar had approached him and shared accounts of alleged demands for money linked to “closing notices”.

According to the Sena (UBT) leader, designated officers, assistant commissioners and food safety officers were allegedly threatening hotels and quick commerce businesses with suspension of their licences.

He cited an alleged case in Thane in which two designated officers purportedly collected Rs 17-18 lakh from a quick-commerce company for restoring a suspended licence. In another instance, he claimed a hotel’s licence was suspended after a social media post alleged the presence of a rat, although an inspection reportedly did not find any rodent.

Raut further alleged that many FDA raids were being triggered by customer complaints without adequate independent verification to determine whether the complaints were genuine.

He urged Mundhe to order an independent investigation into what he described as “closing notice rate cards” allegedly operating in Bandra, Thane and other FDA divisions. He also sought scrutiny of cases involving licence suspensions and subsequent reinstatements.

Raut claimed the alleged amount demanded for closing notices had risen from around Rs 10,000-Rs 12,000 before Mundhe took charge as FDA commissioner to between Rs 75,000 and Rs 2 lakh.

He also called for disciplinary action against officials found to have violated the prescribed procedure requiring a notice, hearing and suspension before action against a licence.

The opposition leader sought greater transparency in enforcement proceedings, asking the FDA to publish the reasons for licence suspensions, dates of hearings and summaries of proceedings related to subsequent reinstatements.

Raut also questioned the effectiveness of the department’s internal oversight, arguing that improvements in the system would remain incomplete if allegations against enforcement officials were not addressed.

The allegations come amid intensified regulatory action against food businesses, with inspections and licence-related measures affecting restaurants, hotels and emerging quick-commerce operations across Maharashtra. Raut’s demands now place the focus on the procedures followed by FDA officials during inspections, notices and enforcement actions.