CHENNAI: The Tiruvallur Municipality will begin collecting annual vending fees directly from registered street vendors from August, replacing the existing contractor-based collection system in a move aimed at curbing unauthorised encroachments, improving transparency and protecting vendors from exploitation.
The civic body has also started implementing measures to regulate street vending through designated vending zones and the recently constituted Town Vending Committee.
The move follows repeated complaints from residents and motorists about vendors occupying busy stretches such as the Tiruvallur bus stand, railway station, Jawaharlal Nehru Road, CV Naidu Road near the Kamarajar statue and Theradi, leading to traffic congestion and obstruction of pedestrian movement.
Municipality Chairman P Udhayamalar Pandian said the municipality, along with the police, has been conducting periodic drives to remove encroachments based on public complaints. However, he noted that vendors had raised concerns that repeated eviction drives disrupted their livelihoods.
To balance public convenience with vendors' rights, the municipality is implementing provisions under the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014, and the Tamil Nadu Street Vendors Scheme and Rules, 2015.
A census conducted in 2022 identified 931 street vendors within the municipal limits. Based on the survey, a 15-member Town Vending Committee was constituted this year under the chairmanship of the Municipal Commissioner.
The committee includes municipal officials, police representatives, traders' associations, residents, non-governmental organisations and six elected representatives of street vendors.
Municipal Commissioner M Damodaran said the municipality had earlier outsourced fee collection to private contractors, who paid a fixed amount to the civic body and recovered the money by collecting daily charges from vendors.
"Several complaints were received that private collectors demanded excessive amounts from vendors under the guise of encroachment charges. The municipality will now directly collect annual vending fees through the Town Vending Committee," he said.
The municipality has classified vendors into five categories — permanent full-time, permanent part-time, vendors with motor vehicles, vendors without motor vehicles and head-load vendors. The annual fee has been fixed according to the size of the vending space and must be paid in a single instalment.
Officials said the new system would help prevent unauthorised encroachments while safeguarding the livelihoods of registered vendors. Vendors will be issued identity cards and vending certificates, and the municipality will also facilitate access to institutional bank loans for business expansion.
A Marimuthu, a street vendor near Uzhavar Sandhai, welcomed the move, saying roadside vendors had often faced eviction and damage to their goods during enforcement drives. He expressed hope that the new system would provide livelihood security and improve access to bank credit.
ANNUAL FEE STRUCTURE
Shop Size/Category 10 sq ft 10-25 sq ft Above 25 sq ft
Permanent full-time vendors Rs 750 Rs 1,500 Rs 3,000
Permanent part-time vendors Rs 375 Rs 750 Rs 1,500
Vendors with vehicles Rs 750 Rs 1,500 Rs 3,000
Vendors without vehicles Rs 375 Rs 750 Rs 1,500
Head-load vendors Rs 250 - -