BMC begins issuing hawker licences with QR codes

The new licence prominently displays a QR code that can be scanned to verify the hawker’s authenticity, including their name, vending location, and the commodities permitted for sale

Mumbai: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has started issuing QR code-enabled licences to authorised stall owners across Mumbai, marking a major push towards digitising the city’s hawking regulation system amid mounting scrutiny from the Bombay High Court over illegal street vending.

Mumbai, India - Feb. 6, 2025: Hawkers at Colaba Causway, in Mumbai, India, on Thursday, February 6, 2025. (Photo by Anshuman Poyrekar/ Hindustan Times) (Hindustan Times)

The new licence, seen by HT, prominently displays a QR code that can be scanned to verify the hawker’s authenticity, including their name, vending location, and the commodities permitted for sale.

The move comes days after the high court pulled up the BMC for failing to curb illegal hawking in the city despite repeated directions over the years. During a hearing on May 5, the court suggested introducing a QR code-based identification system to distinguish authorised hawkers from illegal ones.

Following the court’s observations, the civic body has begun distributing QR-enabled licences to existing authorised stall owners and is preparing to extend the system to all vendors covered under a 2014 hawker survey.

However, implementing the initiative for nearly 99,435 hawkers within five weeks, as directed by the high court, is emerging as a major administrative challenge, officials said. The BMC’s verified records currently account for only around 32,000 licensed or eligible hawkers, making large-scale verification necessary before new identity cards can be issued.

“We are already issuing QR codes to licensed hawkers. Now, we are in the process of extending the same benefit to 99,435 hawkers. We had earlier sought two months’ time, but it was later agreed to complete the process in five weeks,” Chavan said.

“I had suggested to the BMC to take two weeks to verify the records of 2014 to understand who is eligible and who is not, who is alive and who was surveyed in 2014. Three weeks will be required for verification of hawkers and the remaining two weeks for issuance of QR codes,” he added.

According to Chavan, the BMC has also been advised to publish a public notice asking hawkers to visit ward offices and verify their details against the 2014 records. However, civic officials from the BMC’s licence department are still finalising a plan to address this issue.

A civic official said the QR code-based system is intended to streamline enforcement and reduce disputes over illegal hawking and licence duplication. The digital mechanism will allow ward officials and enforcement teams to instantly identify authorised vendors while reducing the need for repeated physical document checks.

The QR code-enabled licences are part of a broader effort to modernise hawker management and create a centralised digital database of street vendors operating across Mumbai. The move is also expected to help curb fraudulent licences and unauthorised occupation of public spaces.

Retired former deputy municipal commissioner DK Jain, who devised the QR code system during an attempted hawker reform exercise in 2020, said the objective was to create a smart identification mechanism that could distinguish licensed vendors from illegal hawkers.

“When a BMC licence officer scans the QR code, all details are available instantly: the hawker’s name, location, photograph, blood group, address and licence number. This creates proof for both the hawker and the civic official while ensuring that the licence is not misused. Bogus and unlicensed vendors can be traced easily through this method,” Jain told HT.

One such renewed QR-enabled licence, accessed by HT, was issued last week by the BMC’s licence department to an already existing licensed stall owner in Goregaon (West), indicating the rollout of the new system on the ground.

Titled “Renewal Licence for Hawker,” the document prominently displays a QR code that civic officials can scan to verify the vendor’s authenticity and licence details instantly. The document includes information such as the hawker’s name, vending location, commodities permitted for sale, stall dimensions, licence number, renewal period and fee details.

Faisal Qureshi, president of the Linking Road Stall Owners Association, said the QR code-enabled system has also made licence fee payments easier for vendors.

“Earlier, we had to physically visit the ward office every month to pay the licence fees. Now, through the barcode on the licence, we can pay the licence rent online. Many licensed stall owners are in their seventies and cannot physically visit the ward office regularly. Earlier, we could not pay the annual fee in advance, but now we can. The average rent is around ₹1,000, depending on the size of the stall, although the 99,435 hawkers who will be issued licences may not all have the same rent structure,” Qureshi added.