The Street Reality.

Providing balance through legal framework, between fundamental rights to do business and right of public to utilise same place

Approximately 2.5% of India’s total population sole source of existence is through street vending. A self employed vendor can be considered as a micro-entrepreneur who earns his living by selling products and services on the streets. Being in informal sector this is one of the most unorganized and unregulated professions in India with minimum policy intervention. Although a national policy was formulated in the year 2004 which was revised in year 2009 but the provisions in it are yet to be materialized.

Size of street vending population

As the most visible segment of the urban informal economy, it is indisputable that there are thousands of street vendors in most big cities of developing world. Yet it is exceedingly difficult to produce accurate estimates of the number of street traders in any given city. In some countries official statics on street vendors are available, though they likely underestimate the total number of people engaged in street vending.

Street Vending- A professions of Ordeals

Street vending is usually correlated with low and insecure income. In most cities it is assumed to be an illegal encroachment of public land and a source of chaos and nuisance. To make matters worse regulation of street vending generally follows the “conflict model”. Various town authorities often issue eviction orders arbitrarily in the pretext of traffic jams, health reasons, public inconvenience and encroachment. Often a street vendor’s income is limited by the natural forces, seizure of goods and insecurity of losing the space for vending. What a Vendor needs is an enabling environment in which he can develop his entrepreneur skills peacefully. Keeping in mind, the livelihood of street vendors, government passed Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Bill, 2012. The bill aimed at providing social security and livelihood rights to street vendors

Highlights of the Bill

The Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Bill, 2012 was introduced in the Lok Sabha on September 6, 2012.

• The Bill shall not be applicable to land owned or controlled by the Railways under the Railways Act, 1989.
• The Bill requires every street vendor to be registered with the Town Vending Committee. The Bill states that the minimum age of a street vendor has to be 14 years.
• Street Vendors have been defined to include ‘any person engaged in vending of articles, goods, food etc or offering services to the general public in a street lane, side walk, footpath, pavement, public park, or any other public or private area. It includes hawkers, peddlers, and squatters.
• The Bill provides that no person can undertake any street vending activity without obtaining the required vending certificate. Every registered street vendor shall be issued an identity card.
• The Bill states that a vending certificate shall be issued to stationary vendors, mobile vendors, or any other category of vendor recognised by the appropriate government.
• The Bill requires every local authority to frame a street vending plan. The plan has to be reframed every five years. The plan shall determine the vending zones as (a) restriction-free vending zones; (b) restricted vending
• The Bill defines natural markets as “a market where sellers and buyers have traditionally congregated for more than a specified period for the sale and purchase of specific products or services and has been determined as such by the local authority.”
• The appropriate government shall frame a street vending scheme. The scheme shall include amongst others: (a) the manner of applying for registration,

(b) The period within which the decision has to be made and,

(c) Any other condition to be imposed on the vending certificate.

• The Bill empowers the local authority to relocate street vendors. The authority may do so, of the street vendors are causing a public nuisance or obstructing the movement of the public. A registered street vendor who has been relocated shall be entitled to new site for vending.
• The local authority is also empowered to confiscate the goods of the vendors in the manner specified in the street vending scheme.
• The Bill empowers the Town Vending Committee to cancel or suspend the vending certificate. This may be done if the vendor has breached the conditions of street vending either under the Bill or under the street vending scheme.

Key Issues and Analysis

Currently, street vending is regulated under municipal laws enacted by state legislatures. Parliament’s competence to legislate on this issue depends on whether the Bill is interpreted as substantively addressing rights and obligations of street vendors (Concurrent List) or relating to municipal zoning (State List). 

The Bill does not specify principles to be followed by governments in issuing vending certificates, allocating vending zones and the number of vendors per zone.  Absence of such norms could defeat the purpose of enacting a law to ensure uniformity in the legal framework. 

The Bill does not require the stakeholders to be consulted in the formulation of the street vending plan.  This could lead to a lack of safeguards in ensuring that plan is determined in a fair manner.  

The central law will have overriding effect on state laws that are inconsistent with the Bill.  Current state laws differ with the Bill in terms of powers of the TVC, and mechanism for dispute resolution.

The Standing Committee suggests making the Bill applicable to the Railways, incorporating specific provisions of the scheme in the Bill, and consultation with the TVC on the vending plan

Balancing objectives of the Bill:  livelihood rights vs.  Urban planning needs

In regulating urban street vending activities, the Bill aims to balance three key objectives: securing the right to livelihood of street vendors, ensuring congestion free public spaces and streets, and convenience of vending services for customers. The Bill provides a broad framework for registration of street vendors, grounds for relocation, eviction and confiscation of goods, functions of the local authority and Town Vending Committee, and a grievance redressal mechanism.  The Statement of Objects and Reasons of the Bill says the law is proposed for “ensuring uniformity in the legal framework across states and union territories”. However, the Bill leaves several aspects of the regulation of street vending to the street vending scheme that is to be formulated by state governments and implemented by local authorities. The Bill does not specify the principles to be considered by local authorities in issuing vending certificates, allocating vending zones and determining the number of vendors per zone, or the public purpose for which vendors may be relocated.

Author- Madhvi Chopra.

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