As many as 5,050 street vendors enumerated by Tiruchi Corporation in all five zones of the city will soon receive identification cards and vending certificates.
The survey to identify street vendors in the city in order to constitute a town vending committee to regulate public movement and generate revenue kicked off in December 2022.
According to officials, the process of issuing identification cards and vending certificates to street vendors enumerated in the survey is under way. “The vendors will get identification cards and vending certificates in a few weeks, after which vending committee will be formed,” said a senior Corporation official.
The identification cards certify that the vendors are authorised, permitting them to engage in business, while the vending certificates will help the vendors claim benefits such as insurance coverage, business loans and government benefits for family members.
Street vendors have been enumerated ward-wise, and the survey has recorded details of vendors including name, permanent address, photograph, nature of the business and location of their operations using GPS-enabled devices.
The civic body is in the process of earmarking allowed and banned places or roads for street vendors to ensure that public movement is unaffected. “We are in the process of selecting vending and no-vending zones in commercial areas. Vending zones will be soon announced, and feedback from the public and street vendors will be sought,” he added.
According to a source, the city had around 4,000 street vendors before the pandemic, but it has surged to 5,050 now, with around 40% of the vendors functioning on NSB Road, Teppakulam, Singarathope, Big Bazaar and neighbouring areas.
In vending zones, vendors will get access to basic amenities including a drinking water source and a sanitary complex. So far, the civic body did not generate any revenue from street vendors. Once the committee is formed, a minimum of ₹250 and a maximum of ₹3,000 per annum will be collected from the vendors as user fee, which will be utilised to develop infrastructure for them.
The civic body plans to form a vending committee comprising officials of the Corporation, city police and representatives elected from the vendors union to meet regularly to regulate street vendors and enforce rules.
