Swiggy, Zomato, others remove 10,500 restaurants for violating food safety law
New Delhi, Dec 14: As many as 10,500 restaurants have been de-listed by e-commerce firms like Zomato and Swiggy for not having license or registration under the food safety law, Parliament was told Friday.
Minister of state for health Ashwini Kumar Choubey said the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India or FSSAI in July directed food e-commerce firms to de-list the the restaurants which don't have registration under the Food Safety and Standards (FSS) Act, 2006.
"The Food delivery aggregators informed that they have already initiated action against the defaulting partner hotels/restaurants.
"As per information received, Zomato has delisted 2,500, Swiggy 4,000, Foodpanda 1,800, UberEats 2,000 and foodcloud 200 unlicensed/unregistered FBOs," he said in reply to a question.
The implementation and enforcement of Food Safety and Standards (FSS) Act, 2006 Rules and Regulations made thereunder, primarily rests with state and UT governments, he said.
Commissioner of Food Safety of all states and UTs have been requested to take necessary action to bring all such FBOs or food business operators under the ambit of FSS Act through registration.
No one shall commence or carry on any food business without license or registration under the Act, he said.
Choubey stated further regular surveillance, monitoring, inspection and random sampling of food products are carried out by officials to check compliance of the standards and norms.
In case where the food samples are found to be non- conforming, penal action has been initiated, he stated.
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Noida (UP): Hundreds of farmers gathered on a key road in Noida in Uttar Pradesh in a protest demonstration on Friday, prompting deployment of police in riot gear that kept them from proceeding towards Delhi.
The farmers were at the Noida Gate in Sector 14A near Chilla, at the UP-Delhi border, where they were stopped by the Gautam Buddh Nagar police around 12 noon, officials said.
The farmers under the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) banner are protesting the farm sector bills, alleging they were "anti-farmer" legislations, that were passed by the Parliament during the just-concluded Monsoon Session.
"Today's protest is part of a bigger statewide and nationwide agitation by farmers against the farm-sector-related bills passed in Parliament recently. The farmers are opposed to these 'black laws'. Our demand is that a law should be made that fixes the MSP (minimum support price) as the lowest amount for purchasing crops from farmers," BKU's Meerut Zone president Pawan Khatana told PTI.
Barricades came up amid heavy deployment of police personnel at the Noida-Delhi border where the farmers, who travelled on foot, two-wheelers and tractor trolleys, staged a demonstration and held a 'panchayat' addressed by regional farm leaders and BKU office-bearers.
The gathering disrupted traffic movement on the key road between Noida and Delhi.
"Police personnel have been deployed at the Noida Gate to check the movement of protesters. The situation is under control. We are talking to the farmers and ensuring no law and order situation arises," Deputy Commissioner of Police, Noida, Rajesh S told PTI.
Earlier Friday, the Delhi Police too intensified deployment of personnel along border areas in view of the nationwide protest call given by various farmer associations.
Opposition parties and farmers in some states have been opposing the farm Bills passed by the Lok Sabha as well as the Rajya Sabha citing apprehension over its impact, even as the government assured that the legislation would benefit the crop-growers.
The Farmer's Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2020, now await presidential assent.
