The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has restrained municipalities and other local bodies in Tamil Nadu from collecting daily fees from street vendors, directing them to collect only the annual licence fee prescribed under the applicable rules.
The order was passed by a division bench of Justices B. Velmurugan and B. Pugalendhi while hearing a contempt petition filed by Siddharthan of Kadayanallur in Tenkasi district. The court referred to the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014, enacted following Supreme Court directions, and the Tamil Nadu government’s 2015 scheme and government order framed under it.
As per the scheme, the annual fee to be collected from street vendors ranges from Rs 250 to Rs 3,000. However, the court noted that Kadayanallur municipality had collected Rs 30 per day through contractors—an amount far higher than the government-fixed fee. The bench also recorded that a similar irregularity had occurred in Ramanathapuram municipality.
The court directed that the practice of appointing contractors to collect such fees be stopped, and that only the annual licence fee be collected. It also reiterated that no one is permitted to set up shops by encroaching on roads or footpaths, and instructed the police and municipal authorities to take strict action against violations, while ensuring both public movement and vendors’ livelihood are regulated in accordance with law.
