Billing & GST
Restaurant Bill Rules in Maharashtra: GST and FSSAI Number
What a restaurant bill must show in Maharashtra: the FSSAI number, GST at 5% without ITC for standalone outlets, hotel restaurants, and a sample bill.
Facts checked on 2 November 2026.
A restaurant bill in Maharashtra looks simple: items, tax, total. But two rules sit behind it. One is the FSSAI licence number that must be printed on food bills. The other is the GST rate, which depends on where and how you serve. This guide goes through the fields on the bill, the FSSAI rule, the GST rate for standalone restaurants and for restaurants inside hotels, and a sample bill, followed by a checklist for your billing software. Sources do not agree on every detail, so we say where. Please confirm the points with your CA.
The fields on the bill
A GST-registered restaurant issues a tax invoice. Rule 46 of the CGST Rules lists what it must carry (GSTZen summary). For a restaurant bill the main items are:
- Your name, address and GSTIN.
- A consecutive bill number, up to 16 characters, unique in the financial year.
- The date.
- A description of what was sold, with quantity and rate.
- The taxable value, the rate of tax and the tax charged, split into CGST and SGST.
- A signature or digital signature, unless the invoice is an e-invoice.
- Customer details only where needed. For an unregistered customer, the name and address are required when the taxable value is Rs 50,000 or more, which is rare in a restaurant but not at a banquet or a bulk order.
On top of these, food businesses must print the FSSAI number.
The FSSAI number
An FSSAI order of 8 June 2021 requires food businesses to declare their 14-digit FSSAI licence or registration number on cash receipts, invoices, cash memos and bills (TaxGuru). The date of effect was first set at 1 October 2021. A second order, dated 30 September 2021, moved it to 1 January 2022, according to Food Safety Works. FSSAI's own advisory file carries the order. That file did not open when we tried it on 2 November 2026, so we rely on the two reports. The requirement is in force now. GST e-way bills and other government system-generated documents are exempt.
The GST rate
Standalone restaurants
For restaurant service supplied outside "specified premises", the rate is 5% without input tax credit. This is entry 7(ii) of Notification 11/2017-Central Tax (Rate), as cited in TaxGuru's FAQs dated 28 March 2025. 5% is split into 2.5% CGST and 2.5% SGST. Without ITC means you cannot take credit for GST paid on your purchases, such as packaging or equipment, against this tax.
Restaurants inside hotels: "specified premises"
Under the definition in force from 1 April 2025, a premises counts as specified if the supplier provided hotel accommodation in the previous financial year at a value above Rs 7,500 per unit per day, or if the supplier opts in by declaration (the FAQs cite Notification 05/2025-Central Tax (Rate) dated 16 January 2025). The old "declared tariff" test was removed. A restaurant in a specified premises can charge 18% with ITC.
A summary of the 56th GST Council meeting, on Legal 500, says a stand-alone restaurant cannot declare itself to be a specified premises, so the 18% with ITC option is not open to it. It also proposed a cut for hotel rooms priced up to Rs 7,500 per unit per day from 12% to 5%, with effect from 22 September 2025. We did not read the notifications themselves, and sources differ on some details of the specified premises test, so treat it as the point to confirm with your CA.
We have not covered composition scheme restaurants or the rules for orders that come through delivery platforms. Ask your CA about both.
When e-invoicing comes in
E-invoicing applies to registered suppliers whose aggregate turnover has gone above Rs 5 crore in any year since 2017-18. Covered documents are mainly B2B tax invoices, exports and related credit and debit notes, and ordinary B2C invoices are outside the notified scope, according to TaxGuru. A counter bill to a walk-in customer is B2C. A restaurant that bills companies on invoice, for example for catering, should ask its CA whether e-invoicing touches those invoices.
A sample bill
This is a sample from a misal pav counter in Dadar, Mumbai, a standalone restaurant at 5% without ITC. It is an example, not a real business.
| Line | Qty | Rate (Rs) | Amount (Rs) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Example Misal House, Dadar, Mumbai. GSTIN: (your GSTIN). FSSAI No.: (your 14-digit number). Bill No. 0147. Date: 2 November 2026 | |||
| Misal pav | 2 | 90 | 180.00 |
| Vada pav | 4 | 25 | 100.00 |
| Cutting chai | 1 | 20 | 20.00 |
| Taxable value | 300.00 | ||
| CGST 2.5% | 7.50 | ||
| SGST 2.5% | 7.50 | ||
| Total | 315.00 | ||
Checklist for your billing software
- Can you put your GSTIN and your 14-digit FSSAI number in the bill header? Print a test bill and look.
- Does it number bills in sequence without gaps or repeats?
- Does it split 5% into CGST and SGST and keep the tax lines separate from the item lines?
- Can you set a different rate if you also run a hotel or a banquet?
- Does it print on the thermal paper you use, 58 mm or 80 mm?
- Does it work when the internet drops at the counter? Many do not.
In BecozAI, the restaurant dashboard has KOT, a kitchen display, tables, recipes with food cost, weight-based sales and QR self-order. It prints thermal receipts at 58 mm and 80 mm, and restaurant counter orders keep working when the internet drops and sync later. We have not confirmed an FSSAI number field on every bill format, so print a test bill in the 7-day free trial and check that the number appears. BecozAI does not connect to Swiggy or Zomato. For more, see our pages on POS for Mumbai shops and food outlets and restaurant software for Mumbai.
This guide is information, not advice. Please confirm the points in it with your CA.