Why Street Vendors Act could not be implemented in Mumbai for 10 years

HT EXPLAINER: Ahead of election of hawkers to Town Vending Committee, a look back on a decade since the formulation of the Act

MUMBAI: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is poised to implement the Street Vendors Act, 2014. It comes after multiple nudges from the Bombay high court to pick a date to elect hawkers’ representatives in the Town Vending Committee (TVC). The elections will be held on August 31, and the civic body recently declared that 32,415 hawkers are eligible to vote to choose their representatives.

Mumbai, India - September 01, 2021: Hawkers sell fruits and vegetables by encroaching the road leading to traffic congestion and difficulty in walking at Vile Parle Market, in Mumbai, India, on Wednesday, September 01, 2021. (Photo by Vijay Bate/HT Photo) (HT PHOTO)

Soon after the announcement, hawkers’ unions opposed this, stating those eligible to vote were selected after an allegedly sham survey conducted by BMC in 2014.

Many questions hang in the air about the implementation of the Act and what is set to change after the elections. HT spoke to stakeholders -- leaders of hawker unions and BMC officials from the license department -- to get to the root of the matter.

What is the essence of the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014?

The Act states around 2.5% of the city’s population can be categorised as hawkers. They have to be Indian citizens, above 14 and be the only earning member of the family. The body entrusted to implement the Act in each urban local body (ULB) is the TVC – a 20-member body that represents hawkers, citizens and civic officials. The TVC is supposed to survey hawkers every five years.

How were the 32,415 hawkers chosen?

A BMC official said, the 2014 survey was conducted adhering to the National Policy on Urban Street Hawkers (NPUSV) and an HC order which placed the cut-off date as May 1, 2014. Hawkers were asked to submit their Aadhaar and Pan cards, proof of hawking and domicile certificates (this condition was later cancelled).

Many non-hawkers saw this as an opportunity to secure hawking licences by submitting forms along with forged fine receipts from BMC or the police, which would act as proofs of their identity as hawkers. BMC busted the network, sifted through the papers and found maximum applicants ineligible.

On the flipside, said Dayashankar Singh, president of the Azad Hawkers Union, those who paid hafta to escape fines and confiscations could not furnish this proof.

BMC had distributed 1.2 lakh forms and received over 99,000 responses; only 22,000 were eligible. Another 10,000 hawkers with old hawking licenses which were discontinued in the 1980s, were added bringing the total to approximately 32,415. But this is just a preliminary number, said a BMC official; a fresh survey must be conducted by the elected TVC.

What has delayed the elections for hawker representatives in the TVC?

“We were stuck in a chicken and egg situation,” said the civic official. “We need surveyed hawkers for the TVC and to conduct the survey we need the TVC. To break this deadlock, the HC ruled we form the TVC using the old surveyed hawkers.”

What will change after the TVC elections on August 31?

Nothing. The implementation of the Act needs a framework, for which the state government needs to form a scheme and the BMC needs to frame byelaws. A fresh survey then needs to be conducted by the TVC.

What is the status of the Maharashtra government’s scheme under the Act?

The government had drafted a scheme in January 2017, which was diluted by HC as ‘guidelines’ in November that year. “They were too restrictive, almost as if meant to eliminate hawkers rather than regulate them,” said Shashank Rao, president of the Mumbai Hawkers’ Union. Thereafter, a BMC official said, the state had asked each ULB to form its own scheme, followed by a notification. On Thursday, HC directed the state to formalise the scheme by September.

When will BMC make the bylaws?

When the BMC was drafting the bylaws in 2020, corporators asked to be included in the TVCs. The matter was escalated to the Urban Development (UD) department, that said they could participate on invitation. This took time, said the BMC official. Now, the bylaws will be improvised alongside the state’s scheme. These rules will decide no hawking zones, various restrictions and space required for hawking.

What happens next?

With the framework ready, the TVC will conduct a survey and decide on hawking zones in the city and implement the Act. This will include issuing vending licenses for both stationary and mobile vendors, hawking zones and pitches.

Describe the constitution of TVCs.

There are eight TVCs – an apex and seven for each zone. Apart from eight elected hawker representatives, three of whom will be women, seven members are from civil society. Five will be officials -- the deputy municipal commissioner of the zone, a traffic official, police, a medical officer and one from the planning department. The apex TVC will be chaired by the municipal commissioner.

What does BMC hope to achieve finally?

“There will be dual repercussions. BMC workers will have to fall in line, but we will be unable to restrict hawkers, as they will have a say,” said the official.