- The more we study, understand, and look around the way the Indian systems have established themselves over the decades, the more convinced we become of how sorely missing some of the most basic regulations, guidelines, and policies are, vis-à-vis self-governance, discipline, deterrence, as well as enforcing the implementation of the same. On paper, we have all the necessary and adequate safety/security measures, but unfortunately, when it comes to ensuring the implementation of the same, we are found wanting in more than one way. It’s apparent how we show such a casual attitude towards enforcing measures since corruption/lackadaisical attitude has permeated so deeply in our day-to-day lives that nothing has been left untouched.
PC: Magestore POS
- So much so that corruption has indeed become an accepted fact of life with nary a thought accorded about the deterrence aspect that may have dissuaded someone from committing the malaise. Little wonder some of the regulators, part of the system, have repeatedly failed to address the issue when something as basic as safety aspects are compromised. The latest to hit the headlines in recent times is how the FSSAI was found not to be alert to safety aspects of quick-delivery food and grocery apps so widely being used by us. There are increasing incidents of quick-delivery businesses supplying rotten food, expired products, and food items with fungal growth, the latest example from Delhi. This is worrying for the quick food-delivery ecosystem. Why so?
PC: LinkedIn
- Note that this is among India’s fastest-growing e-commerce businesses, given exploding demand for its convenience. Platforms are pushing deeper. By some estimates, there will be 5000-5500 dark stores by the end of this fiscal. But consumers have no idea the status or conditions of the dark store from where quick-commerce superstores and mushrooming apps are ferrying food & grocery. Consumers rightly believe that it’s what they pay taxes for, right? That regulators and authorities must be on the job, with routine inspections of storage and sampling, and raids and penalties, to ensure these companies, and their dark stores storing food supplies, are following the rulebook. Alas, what is the rulebook, and where is it? Who’s ensuring the implementation?
PC: The Indian Express
- Mind you, there is none for dark stores, which are licensed as any other food business by nodal regulator FSSAI. That is the grim reality. FSSAI’s defence invariably is that the onus of implementation is on state-level food safety departments. But implementation isn’t the only problem here. The issue is how FSSAI views the quick-commerce food-delivery business. Dark stores aren’t consumer-facing; neither are they warehouses. They’re not cold storage, which perishables need. Dark stores are a hybrid: neither shopfront nor warehouse. They’re a new business entity, a brick-and-mortar requirement for wholly digital businesses. So, it’s astonishing that FSSAI hasn’t felt the need for a new regulatory framework. Deterrence, framework, and implementation are a must. The FSSAI should be quickly delivering on this front. Period.
