Street vending streamlined

While the Central law, the last legislation by the previous UPA government, was cleared in 2014, every state was tasked with the job of drafting rules to implement the law. The recent notification gives powers to the civic chief-headed town vending committee (TVC) comprising elected representatives of hawkers and nominated members from various associations, including residents’ associations, to decide on space to be allotted for vending in a street.

The committee, which is mandated to meet once in three months, is set to earmark ‘vending zones’ and ‘no-vending zones’. It will also allocate space for festival, nights, weekly and temporary bazaars. The rule also protects hawkers from harassment by civic body officials threatening with eviction.

Relocation of hawkers could be done only with TVC’s concurrence. As far as possible, vendors should be allotted locations in an adjoining area of equal or similar nature, the rules said.

As per the rules, the committee would carry out survey of street vendors within six months of issue of notification. A certificate of vending will be issued to hawkers categorising them into stationary and mobile vendors within 60 days of completion of the survey. The certificate would be valid for five years and it would be cancelled if the conditions are violated. Hawkers with cancelled certificate or no certificate would be evicted and vending goods would be seized.

The law mandates that street vendors identified in the survey have to be accommodated in hawking zones subject to a norm conforming to two-and-a-half per cent of the population of the ward/zone/town/city, in accordance with the plan for street vending and the holding capacity of the hawking zones.

The notification also fixed vending fees for different categories of hawkers with a minimum of Rs 250 per annum for mobile vendors carrying head loads. The maximum fee is fixed for stationary vendors occupying more than 25 square feet who have to pay three percent of the guideline value subject to a minimum of Rs 3000 per annum. The vending fee will be revised every three years.

Besides, the vendors would be responsible for cleanliness of their immediate surroundings in the vending zone and should pay maintenance charges as applicable to other shops. Like in the Central law, the State has made way for a grievance redressal mechanism, which will allow aggrieved vendors to complain against the civic body. The state government will constitute a redressal committee in each civic body with a civil judge or magistrate as its chairperson and two members.