Food vendors find registration process cumbersome

Though the deadline as per the Food Safety Act, 2011 is August 4, 2014, not many managed to get a registration number

A street food vendor serving a customer near a Central Government office complex in New Delhi.

Though the latest deadline for registration of street food vendors in the Capital as per the Food Safety Act, 2011, is August 4, 2014, not many have managed to get a registration number as it can only be done online.

Those connected with the matter, however, feel that this new deadline is ambitious because many vendors are unaware of the rule itself, let alone how the procedure works. In spite of missing registration deadlines earlier, the Food Safety Department has failed to address practical constraints and make the process less cumbersome for street food vendors.

To assist vendors in the registration process, the department conducted a training session for about 250 members, which members of NationalAssociation of Street Vendors in India (NASVI) also attended. However, the process of registration takes a minimum of 3-4 working days and a vendor cannot afford to shut business and make trips to banks and government offices.

The Delhi Government had begun registration of street food vendors in the city as per the Food Safety Act, 2011. The registration and licensing is seen as a major move in boosting the city’s informal economy and safeguarding the interests of the street vendors.

According to the Act, vendors earning below Rs.12 lakh per annum have to register themselves (street food vendors will fall in this category) under the Food Safety Act, 2011, and those earning above Rs.12 lakh (big dhabas, restaurants, etc) have to obtain a licence to carry on business, failing which the vendors shall not be authorised to carry on business on the streets of Delhi.

Shashank Pandey, Coordinator- Street Food Programme (NASVI), said he has processed about 300 applications on behalf of vendors in Sarojini Nagar Market alone but only 2-3 have receivedregistration numbers so far. “Their issues start with something as simple as an ID proof to banks refusing to accept their challans for no reason. Most of them being migrants cannot produce a proof of residence in Delhi,” he said. In some cases, they sleep in the market place which makes their place of residence and place of business the same which cannot be accepted during registration.

Many of the vendors The Hindu spoke to were enthusiastic about the policy and hoped that the authorisation would mean that there was no more harassment and undue interference from the police or the NDMC. Allotment of market place to vendors was last done in 2003 in Teh Bazari and since then there has been no allocation. For new vendors to enter the market bribing the officers connected is the only way and those who cannot pay up are chased away.

Kanchan Devi, a vendor selling samosas on the street, agreed that lack of authorisation makes a vendor an easy prey. “I have seen people running away with their kadhais , spilling hot oil all over them at the sight of police. They are scared because they know they are without valid permits to sell food on the streets.”

Another major concern for the Food Safety Department would be to mobilise vendors who do business outside designated market spaces. Since last year, Delhi Government along with NASVI has been working on eight market places including Sarojini Nagar, Tilak Nagar, Karol Bagh, Jheel, India Gate, Laxmi Nagar and New Delhi railway station as street food zones. “While NASVI has a strong presence in these markets to facilitate registration, it will be quite a challenge to get vendors scattered across the city to register and make them implement basic standards of safety and hygiene,” said Sangeeta Singh, its manager - Street Food Program.

Apart from wandering food vendors, another issue is that of seasonal/part time vendors. Many vendors opt to sell other articles or take up various jobs during the monsoon as it is difficult to sell food on the streets during the rainy season. According to the current rules, it is unclear whether such vendors shall be categorised as street food vendors or as street vendors for allocation of market space post registration.

There is one common suggestion coming from the vendors and NASVI that the registration drive should be brought to the markets instead of vendors individually following up on their applications. Not just the policy but even the procedure must be in favour of those it targets, they argue.