Published Paper Details:

Street vending is a vital economic activity in urban India. It is the largest informal sector which caters to the livelihood of the urban poor. Since the era of economic reform in the country, the sector has faced many challenges, which have been sought to be addressed by numerous legislative attempts- the most recent one being the introduction of the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Bill 2012. This legislative report seeks to review the 2012 Bill. However, the discussion of the Bill in the report is confined to addressing certain core issues that the Bill seems to address and critically appraising the regulatory and policy responses to those issues contained in the provisions of the Bill. Part I of the paper will present a brief overview of the legal discourse on the issue by mapping some legal responses in foreign jurisdictions and briefly discussing some Indian case laws to establish the Indian legal position. Part II will examine the rights and duties of street vendors as laid down in the Bill. Part III aims to analyse the registration and licensing mechanism under the Bill. Part IV evaluates dispute redressal and appeal mechanism provided under the Bill. Finally, the report concludes by calling for the suggested amendments to be incorporated to the Bill to ensure its efficacy in letter as well as spirit.