Punjab Food Authority license: a guide for marriage halls and caterers

Who needs a PFA licence in the events trade

The Act covers any place used for food business. For the events trade that means the marriage hall or banquet hall kitchen, a marquee where food is cooked on site, an outside caterer's central kitchen and the vehicles that carry food to functions.

If a hall rents out only the space and an outside caterer cooks, both have duties. The caterer needs its own licence for its kitchen. The hall should check that licence before letting the caterer in, because PFA teams inspect what they find on the premises on the night.

The PFA can exempt classes of food operators under section 15(2), so a very small seller may face lighter rules. A commercial hall or caterer should plan on a full licence.

Step by step

1. 1

   Check your licence category and fee

   Use the licence category calculator on the PFA website. The fee depends on the type of business and its size, so a large banquet hall with a full kitchen pays more than a small catering unit.

2. 2

   Apply on the PFA app

   Install the official PFA app on an Android phone, choose Apply for License, enter your details and confirm the SMS code. Upload the applicant's photograph, both sides of the CNIC and a photograph of the business.

3. 3

   Prepare for the inspection

   A PFA team inspects the premises after you apply. Clean the kitchen, fix storage and drainage problems and have your staff records ready before they arrive.

4. 4

   Pay the fee

   After the inspection you receive a payment notification. Pay through Allied Bank, JazzCash or Easypaisa as offered in the app.

5. 5

   Get your staff screened and trained

   Arrange medical screening for every food handler at a laboratory prequalified by PFA and apply for food handler training through the PFA portal.

6. 6

   Receive and display the licence

   The licence certificate is printed and sent by courier to the business address, usually within 15 days of approval. Keep it on the premises where an inspector can see it.

Licence fees and categories

PFA sets fees by licence category through a published notification and offers a calculator on its website. Because the fee depends on business type and size, check the calculator for your hall or kitchen rather than relying on a figure from another business.

Payment comes after the inspection, not before. The app notifies you once the inspection is complete, and you pay through Allied Bank, JazzCash or Easypaisa. PFA says the review takes about 7 working days and printing and dispatch about 15 days after approval.

Medical screening and training for your kitchen staff

PFA treats the health of food handlers as part of the licence. Its own procurement documents describe medical screening of food handlers as mandatory under the law, carried out at diagnostic laboratories that PFA has prequalified. The list of tests is set by PFA, so ask the authority or a prequalified laboratory for the current panel before you book.

Wedding season makes this hard. Halls bring in extra cooks, tandoor staff and waiters for a few months, and every one of them handles food. Screen seasonal staff before the season starts, not after the first inspection.

PFA also runs food handler training, which you apply for through its online portal. A trained head cook who knows temperature control and cleaning routines is the person who keeps a kitchen open when inspectors arrive.

• Keep a register of every food handler with screening date and result
• Repeat screening on the schedule PFA sets for your licence
• Provide clean uniforms, head covering and gloves where needed
• Keep separate hand washing points in the kitchen

What PFA inspectors check in a hall kitchen

Food Safety Officers can enter and inspect premises, check licences and records, take samples, and seal premises where they find serious risk. Under section 16 an officer can serve an improvement notice listing the problems and the steps to fix them. If you do not comply in time, the licence can be suspended or cancelled.

Where an officer finds a health risk, section 18 allows an emergency prohibition order that stops the business, which must be reported to the Authority within 24 hours. Inspection reports on hall kitchens usually mention the same issues: pests, dirty or rusted equipment, poor storage of meat and dairy, and staff without medical records.

• Clean, pest free kitchen and stores
• Raw meat and cooked food stored apart and covered
• Working refrigeration for meat, dairy and sweets
• Clean water supply and proper drainage
• Medical screening records for every food handler
• A valid licence displayed on the premises

Other Punjab rules that affect halls and caterers

The PFA licence is only one part. The Punjab Marriage Functions Act 2016 limits the food at a wedding in a hall, marquee or hotel to one dish as defined in the Act, and requires ceremonies to end by 10:00 pm. It binds both the venue and the caterer, so the menu on your quotation should follow it.

Sales tax on services is collected by the Punjab Revenue Authority, and venues collect advance income tax on functions for FBR. The quotation and invoice templates for Pakistan on this site set those lines out. Venura keeps bookings, menus, quotations and receipts per function on web, Android and iOS, so the hall office and the kitchen work from the same guest count and menu.

Penalties for running without a licence

Section 32 of the Act, as amended in 2016, says a food operator who sells, stores or distributes food without the prescribed registration or licence faces imprisonment of three days to one year and a fine of Rs 10,000 to Rs 500,000. Separate, heavier penalties apply for selling unsafe food, especially where a guest is harmed.

The bigger cost for a hall is usually lost business. A sealed kitchen during the wedding season means cancelled functions, refunds and a damaged name. A valid licence, screened staff and a clean kitchen are cheaper than any of that.

Punjab Food Authority licence: questions from Pakistan