Street vendors at a crossroads with registration still in the works

A bad bargain

Nearly a decade after the Supreme Court of India ruled that the street vendors across the country should be allowed to do business freely until the creation of vending zones, street vendors in Bengaluru still await formal registration and demarcation of vending zones.

While the street vendors claim that nearly 1.5 lakh people are carrying out various businesses on the city roads, BBMP’s 2017 survey had identified only 25,000 and only 60% of them have been issued ID cards, legalising their business.

“Back in 2017, the survey was not conducted in the right manner as they surveyed only a few big markets. Hence, most of the traders were left out. We have been requesting for a fresh survey ever since but in vain,” said Babu S, president of the Bengaluru Jilla Beedi Vyaapari Sanghatanegala Okkuta.

According to the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014, the local civic body is also responsible for forming Town Vending Committees (TVC) in every zone. TVCs comprise representatives from street vendors, various government agencies such as the traffic police, and members from trade organisations and resident welfare associations (RWAs).

However, in Bengaluru, though an election for the TVC was held in 2019, most of the TVCs are still incomplete.

“In Bommanahalli, elections could not be conducted since ID cards were not issued. Though the other seven zones have a working TVC, they do not have all the nominated members,” Babu said.

That apart, BBMP has also failed to demarcate vending zones in the city. “The ID cards issued now contain details of the place of business. However, since all the vendors have not been issued an ID, the vending zones have also been identified only in a few areas. In 2017, a few vendors were issued ID cards. The process is being taken up in phases and many more vendors will receive ID cards in the coming days,” said Dr Muralidhar K, Deputy Commissioner (Welfare).

Yet another senior BBMP official said that demarcating these zones required approval from various stakeholders. “We will have to conduct a spot inspection and demarcate hawking zones taking all the TVC members into confidence. Many a time, it is difficult to arrive at a decision owing to the varied opinions,” the official said.

The street vendors also complained that though the TVCs are partially functional, nothing much has changed on the ground.

“Even to this day, the policemen frequently ask us to vacate the spots. Many end up paying bribes,” a vendor in Byatarayanapura said.

Yet another vendor said that even the identity cards have not helped much. “They have just mentioned vague locations and a few cards do not even have a mention of the place of business. The police do not consider such cases and ask us to vacate,” said Manjulamma, a fruit vendor near RT Nagar.

Training sessions

Senior BBMP officials however opined that the vendors were not aware of their rights.

“They do not see much of a difference on the ground because they are not aware of their rights. Hence, we are now conducting training sessions for them,” said a BBMP official from the South zone.

The officials added that there have been instances where the vendors now approach and write to the TVCs when they face such problems. “In many cases, we have ordered an inquiry against officials who have tried to vacate street vendors,” the official said.

“The formation of TVCs is just the first step. The TVCs should start meeting regularly and a new survey has to be taken up. The process will take some time to pick up the pace,” the officials said.

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