Only 19,000 street vendors have ID cards in Bengaluru, while the street vendors welfare unions estimate that the city has around two lakh street vendors.
Vendors continue to set up their stalls illegally on roads in Bengaluru as they do not have identity cards for carrying out their businesses. An official from Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Welfare Department said that 25,000 street vendors were identified in a 2018 survey, out of which 19,000 vendors were issued ID cards.
Faizulla, a street vendor on Dispensary Road, said that he is happy to put his stall on the road and does not have any problem. He said that he does not need an ID card as no one asks for it and was unaware about the means to get an ID card.
Another vendor, Avneesh Kumar Singh, said that he does not have an ID card and no police personnel asks for it. He said, “I have been setting up the stall on Dispensary Road for almost two years and no one has ever stopped me from standing here.”
The Welfare Department official said that the vendors can register online on PM SVANidhi portal to be identified under the state and get various benefits.
PM SVANidhi scheme aims to formalise street vendors. All street vendors, whether they have been identified in the street vendors’ survey or not, can register on this portal to avail several benefits like loans on low interest rates, to upscale their business, he said. “After registering on this portal, the BBMP will identify the eligible vendors and ensure that they are covered and counted,” he added.
Mohammed Javed, president of All India Street Vendors Public and Charitable Trust, Bengaluru, said, “The number of vendors according to the last survey is vague and a lot of vendors were not identified during this survey.” He said that the organisation has tried a lot to convince vendors to register on the online portal but most of them refuse to do so as they are reluctant to follow online procedures which require certain compulsions. “The need to have their mobile numbers linked to their Aadhaar to apply for schemes on PM SVANidhi portal makes them hesitant to register online,” he said.
The Welfare Department official said that it is important to have hawking zones in the city to give vendors a proper place to carry out their businesses without interrupting the surrounding environment, as they form an integral part of the economy. “For this, it is important to know the correct number of vendors and for them to be identified and verified by the BBMP,” he said. The tender for a new survey was floated in January 2023 but no private parties have approached to conduct the survey yet, he added.
Saifuddin, Chief Executive Engineer, BBMP East zone, said, “No hawking zones are identified in the city and vendors stand wherever they want. This is causing various problems as they block pedestrian footpaths or stand on the roadside, causing congestion.”
Salman Kaleem, a shop owner on Dispensary Road, said that vendors are not allowed to put their carts on the road. “It is very inconvenient because people keep crowding in front of my shop,” he said. No action is being taken against the vendors as they have “settlement” with authorities, he added.
Saifuddin said, “We are conducting drives to remove illegal street vendors. We have recently done it on 20 to 30 roads including Church Street.” He said that they will soon conduct it on Ibrahim Saheb Street and Dispensary Road as well.
According to the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Rules, 2014, no street vendor can be evicted if he/she is left out from the survey and therefore not certified.
Vikram Bhat, Principal Architect and Urban Designer said that street vendors can be considered as mini startups. He said, “Street hawkers do pose obstruction in pedestrian movement. Indian pedestrian domain is not designed for street hawkers; therefore, new master plan should take into account street hawking zones and spaces for pedestrians.”