HC flags families with multiple hawker licences, seeks report from BMC

A division bench of justices A S Gadkari and Kamal Khata said people are taking advantage of the state’s policy and turning it into business

MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Tuesday sought a detailed report from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) after it was informed that around 85 families have illegally obtained more than one hawker licence.

Mumbai, India - Jan. 16, 2025:Hawkers at Colaba causway, in Mumbai, India, on Thursday, January 16, 2025. (Photo by Anshuman Poyrekar/ Hindustan Times) (Hindustan Times)

Observing that the issue of multiple licences within a single family has emerged as a “new facet”, a division bench of justices A S Gadkari and Kamal Khata said, “People are taking advantage of the state’s policy and turning it into business.”

The court was hearing a bunch of petitions, including one by the Goregaon Merchants Association, which represents around 1,200 shopkeepers, alleging that authorities have failed to enforce street-vending laws and ensure free pedestrian movement. The petition also highlighted the “prevailing lawlessness and rampant hooliganism, particularly outside the Goregaon West railway station and adjoining areas, including the Aarey Road junction.

In March, the court had directed the BMC and the Mumbai police to conduct a thorough verification of all hawkers and their helpers across the city and to take appropriate action against those found operating illegally.

Advocate Ashish Dube, appearing for the petitioners, told the court that multiple licences have been fraudulently issued to certain families, in contravention of the state’s policy.

While the BMC also assured the bench that it would look into the matter and take immediate action in case of any violation, amicus curiae Jamshed Mistry informed the court that a grievance redressal committee, as per the provisions of the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, should immediately be formed to address such complaints. He also pointed out that hawkers continue to operate in the Colaba Causeway area, which is a no-hawking zone.

Observing that pedestrians have been left with no space to walk due to encroachment, the court directed the BMC to personally inspect such areas and take swift action. It also emphasised the need to prevent misuse of the system and ordered the authorities to verify hawkers’ identity cards to ensure there is no impersonation.

Additionally, the counsel appearing for the Bombay Bar Association (BBA) submitted that the WhatsApp-based complaint mechanism is not user-friendly. She claimed that it takes nearly 45 minutes to register a complaint because the number functions as a chatbot, with users receiving only automated responses.

Raising concern over the matter, the court said that artificial intelligence-based operations “are not going to help” the system. “In a city like Mumbai, if it takes an hour to lodge a complaint, people would lose their minds. Time is money here. If you are going to use AI to resolve the issues, it is not going to be addressed; it has to be human interfaced,” the court said, while directing civic officials to make the system more “user-friendly”.

The matter will now be heard after two weeks.