Four street vendors lose licence over fee dues

Taking strict action over non-payment of dues, the Municipal Corporation (MC) has cancelled the licence of four more street vendors.

In December last year, fee defaulters were granted the last opportunity to deposit dues in six monthly installments along with monthly due fees before the 10th of every month. In the event of non-payment of any of the six installments or monthly fee, the vending licence along with the site was to be cancelled the very next day.

According to officials, four vendors have failed to deposit their fifth installment. Through a public notice, these vendors have been informed that their licence and any allotted site stand cancelled with immediate effect. They will now be considered illegal vendors. The MC will start the proceedings to recover the outstanding amounts in accordance with the applicable legal provisions.

The city had 10,903 registered street vendors in all three categories, including street, essential and non-essential services, after a survey carried out in 2016. However, the MC cancelled the licences of as many as 6,909 vendors for failing to clear their licensing fee dues. The registered vendors owe a whopping Rs 85 crore as a fee to the MC and nearly 2,352 vendors had not paid their fee even once. Despite repeated enforcement drives, unregistered vendors continue to occupy footpaths, road berms, corridors and even parking spaces.