VEER Savarkar Marg Road in New Delhi, India, has a huge community of street vendors who are part of a growing vending sector the Indian government is out to cash on.

Various artefacts, clothes and food are strewn all over the street, also known as Market Road by virtue of it being home to one of the busiest streets in Delhi. India is estimated to have over 10 million street vendors.

In fact, according to the National Association of Street Vendors of India (Nasvi), the hawkers in the cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Patna, Calcutta and Ahmedabad generate $61,26 billion in annual revenue. 

The Indian government is currently working on buttressing its 2009 National Policy on Urban Street Vendors and the Street Vendors Act of 2014, among other laws to cover all street vendors. Current coverage of Indian street vendors is estimated to be anywhere between 20% and 40%.

The 2009 policy seeks to recognise street vendors as part of the national economy while the Street Vendors Act of 2014 facilitates their licensing, identification and therefore protection against municipal police flashing out illegal vendors.

Comparatively, the Zimbabwean government has no effective licensing system which would allow them to get regular fees from vendors. The National Vendors Union of Zimbabwe (Navuz) has made requests for orderly vendor operations but the proposal has been gathering dust in parliament since 2015.

In a snap survey of Veer Savarkar Marg street during a recent visit to New Delhi by Standardbusiness, most vendors said they were happy to pay taxes if the conditions were conducive for their business.

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Vendors’ representatives in India have for many years been struggling to engage government on this issue of regularising their activities but they are finding little joy.

Vendors complain that this slow registration process was prejudicing them especially given the fact that business in India is brisk as many people in that country prefer buying from vendors because of their favourable prices.

One female customer who preferred anonymity said “obviously I am going to buy from the street if the same item is cheaper there.”

“When you walk down the street [Veer Savarkar Marg road]you see a lot of variety and the prices are very good compared to what the shops ask for,” she said. 

Another advantage of buying from India’s street vendors is that the food sold there is usually original traditional cuisines such as batata vada, bread pakora, panipuri and medu vada among others.

The legislation that the government of India is working on is meant to fully regularise street vending.

The 2009 National Policy on Urban Street Vendors which seeks to legalise and recognise street vendors, is viewed as a major step towards urban poverty alleviation.

The 2014 Street Vendors Act, on the other hand, gives provision for vendors to get licences where the Indian government can tax them through formal channels and not presumptive taxes. The Act also offers specific vending zones, special identification cards, and instructs police or municipal authorities against harassing registered vendors.

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