A small Amazon.in seller meets two different locks. Category approval is Amazon’s own application: Seller Central will not let the listing go live until the documents for that gated category are accepted. A licence is the government permission for the product itself, such as an FSSAI licence for food or a BIS registration where the product is on a compulsory list. You can hold the licence and still be waiting on Amazon. You can also be asked for an invoice in a category that has no separate ministry licence.
The indicative list on Amazon’s listing guide is the public starting point. Amazon says you may be asked for documents beyond that list. Apply from Seller Central under selling applications, search the category name, and request approval before you raise a purchase order. The profit calculator already contains the fee line for these products. The commission is a separate question from the permission to sell.
What Amazon’s public gated list asks for
The rows below follow Amazon’s published examples. “All-sided images” means photographs of the product or the pack, not a single hero shot. An invoice should be in the seller’s business name.
| What you want to list | Documents Amazon names | Examples Amazon gives |
|---|---|---|
| Car seats | Invoice, all-sided images | Vehicle and aeroplane car seats |
| Helmets and face shields | Invoice, all-sided images | Helmets, hard hats, face shields |
| Baby activity gear | Invoice, all-sided images | Baby walkers |
| Baby diapering | Invoice, all-sided images | Diapers and nappies |
| Baby strollers and carriers | Invoice, all-sided images | Prams, pushchairs, strollers |
| Baby food | Invoice, food declaration, FSSAI licence, all-sided pack images, or a BIS licence | Baby cereal, baby health drinks |
| Baby feeding | Invoice and all-sided pack images, or a BIS licence | Feeding bottles and feeding spoons |
| Grocery and gourmet food | Food declaration and FSSAI licence. Other checks depend on the food | Ambient food and drink with shelf life of at least 3 months |
| Feminine hygiene | Invoice, all-sided images | Tampons, feminine wipes |
| Medical supplies and equipment | Invoice, all-sided images | Thermometers, blood-pressure meters |
| Topicals | Invoice, all-sided images | Cosmetics, lotions, soaps |
| Dietary supplements | Invoice, plus a food declaration and FSSAI licence, or an AYUSH drug licence for Ayurvedic products | Health supplements, herbal teas |
| Kitchen cooking tools | Invoice, all-sided images | Blenders, food processors, slow cookers |
| Pet care | Invoice, all-sided images | Pet food, pet grooming products |
| Toys | Invoice, all-sided images | Radio-controlled toys, learning toys, outdoor toys, building blocks |
| Silver jewellery | Invoice and a silver purity certificate | Silver bangles and pendants |
| Large appliances | A detailed catalogue and an India warranty promise | Air conditioners, refrigerators, washing machines, dishwashers |
| Music | Invoice or a licence from the rights owner | CDs and DVDs |
| A protected brand, in any category | Invoice and/or a brand letter of authorisation | Branded goods you do not manufacture |
FSSAI licence for grocery, spices, oils, snacks and baby food
Food is the clearest licence on the list. Amazon’s grocery listing policy, not only the short table, says the FSSAI licence must be valid for at least two months when you apply, and you must send the renewed licence before it expires or the listings come down. The scope of the licence has to include every food category you list. Proprietary food has to be named as proprietary food in that scope.
- Organic food needs a valid NPOP certificate or a PGS-India certificate. Imported organic food needs a certificate from an approved body in the country of origin. The certificate scope has to name the products.
- Fulfilment Centre inventory needs an FSSAI licence for the additional place of business at the fulfilment centre, and the kind of business has to be Retailer.
- Easy Ship and self-ship sellers keep a daily sales record of the best-before date. Amazon’s policy says the remaining shelf life when the order reaches the customer should be the lesser of 45 days or 30 percent.
- FBA food in that policy needs at least five months of shelf life. Merchant-fulfilled food needs at least three months. The food has to be pre-packed, sealed, and labelled to the FSSAI rules, and sold as new.
- Fortified food also has to meet the Food Safety and Standards (Fortification of Food) Regulations, 2018.
Amazon says meeting that policy does not guarantee approval of the category or of every SKU. Spices, edible oils, dried fruit, beverages, hampers and baby cereal all sit on fee lines in the profit calculator. The spice line is 8% above ₹1,000. Oils are 5%. Dried fruit is 9%. Beverages are 10%. Baby food is not a separate referral row from grocery in every case, so confirm the fee category in Seller Central after the listing is accepted. Pet food is on Amazon’s gated examples as well, with an invoice and all-sided images, and its referral line charges from ₹300.
Cosmetics, soaps, sunscreen and Ayurvedic supplements
Amazon files cosmetics, lotions and soaps under topicals, and asks for an invoice and all-sided images. Dietary supplements and herbal teas are a different row: an invoice, plus a food declaration and FSSAI licence, or an AYUSH drug licence when the product is Ayurvedic. A face wash, a moisturiser, a sunscreen and a hair oil can look like one “beauty” catalogue to a seller and three different compliance files to Amazon.
Do not treat a cosmetic claim as a food claim or a drug claim to slip into an easier form. If the label says the product treats a disease, Amazon and the drug rules treat it as a medicine, not as a cream. Prescription medicines and many medical devices are restricted. The calculator’s health section includes OTC medicine, pharmacy, glucometers, blood-pressure monitors and regulated healthcare. Being able to select the fee line is not permission to list the SKU.
BIS, helmets, feeding bottles and electronics
Amazon names a Bureau of Indian Standards licence as an alternative document for baby food and for feeding bottles and spoons. Helmets, hard hats and face shields are on the gated list with an invoice and all-sided images. Separately, BIS compulsory certification covers notified products in India, including many electronics and IT goods and toys that fall under the toy quality orders. If your charger, power bank, helmet or toy is on the current BIS list, the registration is a condition of selling the goods in India. Amazon’s category form is additional. Check the model on the BIS list before the stock lands. A 20.5% referral fee on power banks, or 18% on headsets, is the commission after you are allowed to sell, not a substitute for the registration.
Silver jewellery, gold, and brand letters
Amazon’s public table asks for an invoice and a silver purity certificate for silver bangles and pendants. Gold jewellery sold in India is under BIS hallmarking, including the hallmark unique ID on eligible articles. The public Amazon table does not spell out the gold row the way it spells out silver. Confirm the live application in Seller Central and the current BIS hallmark rule before you pick a gold SKU. Fashion jewellery is a different fee line, at 22.5% above ₹1,000, and a protected brand inside it can still demand a letter of authorisation.
A brand approval is not a ministry licence. Amazon’s table says any category can ask for an invoice and/or a brand letter of authorisation. That is how branded earphones, branded sneakers and branded supplements get blocked even when the category itself looks open. Private-label sellers who own the trademark use Brand Registry instead of a letter from someone else. Brand Registry needs a registered trademark. It does not replace FSSAI, BIS or AYUSH.
What the pack itself must show
Pre-packed goods offered on an e-commerce site have to carry the declarations in the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules. The public amendments require the declarations a shopper would see on a retail pack, including the manufacturer, packer or importer, the commodity name, the net quantity, the MRP, and consumer-care details. Food labels also follow FSSAI’s labelling rules. Amazon’s grocery policy asks for images of the complete labelling on all sides, so a missing MRP or a missing FSSAI number fails the listing even when the licence PDF is valid.
Large appliances on the gated list need a detailed catalogue and a warranty promise for India. Music needs an invoice or a licence from the rights owner. Kitchen appliances such as blenders are on the list with an invoice and all-sided images, even though many home and kitchen fee lines feel unrestricted when you are only looking at referral fees.
What is usually not on that gated list
Amazon’s indicative table does not name ordinary apparel, most home décor, cushions, bedsheets or generic fashion jewellery as gated categories. That is not a promise that every ASIN in those departments is open. A baby walker, a diaper, a remote-controlled toy and a blender are gated even though baby, toys and kitchen are familiar departments. A phone case can be an open accessory and still be blocked if the brand is protected, or if the charger beside it needs a BIS registration.
- Search the exact product in Seller Central and try to create the offer. If the button says request approval, stop and collect the documents before you pay the supplier.
- Match the product to the fee line in the calculator only after you know the listing will be accepted. The fee line tells you the commission. It does not tell you the licence.
- Keep the invoice, the licence and the pack photographs in the same business name as the Seller Central account.
The fee for a line you are allowed to sell is in the seller fee directory. The price that still holds a margin after that fee is in the referral-fee price jump. Neither page can tell you that Amazon has approved your account.