TG SAFE suspended FSSAI licenses of four Hyderabad dark stores run by Swiggy Instamart, Flipkart, and Zepto on 30 September 2026 after finding expired products, cockroaches, and cold-room failures during inspections of 16 facilities.
Four quick-commerce dark stores in Hyderabad had their FSSAI licenses suspended on 30 September 2026 after the Telangana Standards Authority for Food and Essential Drugs (TG SAFE) found expired food, pest infestation, and cold-chain failures during surprise inspections the same day.
TG SAFE is the state-level food and drug regulator for Telangana, authorised to enforce the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 and to suspend or cancel FSSAI licenses when violations are serious enough to pose an immediate public health risk. The four stores ordered to stop operations immediately are: a Swiggy Instamart store at Petbasheerbad, a Flipkart store near Charminar, a Zepto store in Koti, and a second Swiggy Instamart store at Saidabad.
The inspections covered 16 dark stores in total, operated by four companies: Kwickbox Retail Private Limited (which runs Swiggy Instamart dark stores), Instakart Services Private Limited (which runs Flipkart dark stores), Zepto Private Limited, and Dropx Logistics.
What the inspectors found
The violations documented across the inspected stores include:
- Expired and damaged food articles on shelves
- Spoiled vegetables with visible fungal growth
- Cockroach and pest infestation
- Unhygienic premises and improper food handling
- Cold-room temperatures not maintained at required levels
- Violations of FSSAI labelling and display regulations
TG SAFE officials also collected 15 food samples for laboratory testing on suspicion of adulteration. Results from those tests have not been published yet.
Beyond the four license suspensions, three other stores received improvement notices and will be re-inspected to verify corrective action. Five more stores received show-cause notices, which can lead to financial penalties or further regulatory action.
Why this matters for anyone ordering groceries online
Dark stores are small, warehouse-style fulfillment centers that are not open to the public. They exist entirely to pack and dispatch orders for 10-to-30-minute delivery. Because customers never walk in, there is no ambient social pressure to keep shelves tidy or products fresh, and no casual observation by shoppers who might notice a cockroach or a dented, expired packet.
The violations found here, expired stock on active shelves, fungal growth on vegetables, and cold rooms running at wrong temperatures, are not minor paperwork failures. Consuming food stored at incorrect temperatures creates real risk of bacterial growth, particularly in dairy, meat, and ready-to-eat products. Fungal contamination on produce can produce mycotoxins that survive cooking. Expired products, if dispatched, reach consumers who may not check dates before eating.
The FSSAI labelling violations are a separate concern for clean-label shoppers. FSSAI regulations under the Food Safety and Standards (Labelling and Display) Regulations, 2020 require that date-of-manufacture, best-before or use-by dates, ingredient lists, and allergen declarations be clearly visible on packaging. Stores that violate display regulations may be stocking products where this information is obscured or absent, making it impossible for buyers to make informed choices about additives, allergens, or shelf life.
Quick commerce has grown fast in Indian metros. The speed of that growth has clearly outpaced the hygiene infrastructure at some facilities. TG SAFE inspecting 16 stores in a single day and finding violations serious enough to suspend four of them suggests the problem is not isolated to one operator.
What buyers should do
If you order groceries through Swiggy Instamart, Flipkart Quick, or Zepto in Hyderabad, a few practical steps reduce your exposure to the risks documented here.
Check dates the moment your order arrives, before putting anything away. Expired products dispatched from a dark store will carry the original manufacturer's date, so this takes seconds and is the most direct check available to you.
For vegetables and leafy produce, inspect for sliminess, off-smell, or visible mold before using. Fungal growth on vegetables is not always visible on the surface; if the texture is wrong, discard.
For chilled and frozen products, feel the packaging when it arrives. If a product that should be cold arrives at room temperature, the cold chain was broken at some point, whether at the dark store or during transit. FSSAI's cold-chain requirements exist precisely because temperature abuse creates conditions for pathogen growth.
If you receive a product that is expired, damaged, or visibly compromised, you can file a complaint directly with FSSAI through the Food Safety Connect app or the FSSAI consumer helpline. Complaints with photographic evidence and order details are more likely to trigger follow-up inspections.
TG SAFE has not yet published the results of the 15 adulteration samples collected during the 30 September inspections. Until those results are released, it is not possible to say whether any specific product categories were found to be adulterated. The show-cause notices issued to five stores could result in further license suspensions or penalties, but no timeline has been given for that process.