MCD finalises its food carts policy, licences out soon

Under the revised policy, the operation timings have also been extended from the previous proposal of 8am to 8pm, to 6am to 10pm.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) will allow 1,250 electric food carts in the city to operate from 6am to 10pm, under a proposed policy, senior civic officials said on Wednesday. The officials added that the three erstwhile municipal corporations (north, south, and east) had allowed e-food carts in their respective areas.

Unlike food trucks, e-food carts can only sell packed and pre-cooked eatables. (Ht Archive)

However, the policies could not be operationalised since they failed to lay down a uniform road map for the business of food carts.

“The three policies had several differences. However, now a common policy for the city has been formulated reconciling the variations. Once the policy is approved by the House, licences may be issued in the coming months,” an MCD officials said asking not to be named.

HT has seen a copy of the proposed policy.

Unlike food trucks, e-food carts can only sell packed and pre-cooked eatables. No catering or preparation of eatables will be permitted but the operators will be able to heat the pre-cooked food, the official said.

The food carts will also be much smaller compared to food trucks, which have kitchens equipped for cooking, he added.

“The notified commercial roads are already congested and adding further load would be impractical from the point of view of traffic problems. In the previous policies, north, and south MCDs had permitted food carts in commercial areas as well,” the official added.

Under the revised policy, the operation timings have also been extended from the previous proposal of 8am to 8pm, to 6am to 10pm. Since the carts are mobile, they will not be permanently located in one place.

“The carts will have to be removed and can’t be permanently placed at a site to prevent encroachment,” the official said.

“We are proposing a lottery-based system as the maximum number of carts has already been fixed. In each ward, five carts will be permitted with a cap of 1,250 carts for the city,” a second official said.

The MCD has 250 wards.

The approval of the policy from the House will also clarify the status of the previous licence applicants, who have remained in limbo for around 1.5 years after the initial approval was granted, due to the unification of the civic bodies in May last year.

“In east MCD, 70 applicants had paid ₹6,000 per application to obtain the licence for e-food carts before the unification but the modification in policies left their fate uncertain. In north MCD, 30 such applications were cleared for the Sadar-Paharganj zone based on a design competition for such carts. None of the food carts are legal as of now. Once the House approves, we will go ahead with the licencing process,” the official added.