Chandigarh: Illegal street vendors across the city, mainly in the prominent commercial areas, remained the focal point of discussion during the monthly general house meeting Monday. Most municipal councillors across party lines said these vendors not only occupy the markets during the day, but some mobile vendors among them can be spotted at night too.Responding to a question from senior deputy mayor Jasbir Singh, the officers concerned revealed that out of 10,939 registered street vendors in the city, the licences of 6,904 were cancelled due to non-payment of fees. At present, only 4,035 vendors fall into the category of legal vendors, who are paying their fees regularly to the municipal corporation.The senior deputy mayor requested the officers to give another chance to the street vendors, whose licences were cancelled, to pay their pending fees. However, the officers said they were given ample opportunities in the past, but they did not pay their fees, so no further chance can be given to them.During the discussion, mayor Harpreet Kaur Babla informed the general house that some cases of cancelled licences of street vendors have come to her in appeal for a decision. She will take a call on it in the subsequent hearings as per the rules.There are three categories of registered street vendors, namely non-essential service providers (N-ESP), essential service providers (ESP), and mobile ones. Most defaulters have been traced to the N-ESP category. Reliable sources revealed that in the default category too, the number of N-ESP category vendors is the highest, followed by ESP and mobile vendors. Their fate will be decided in the upcoming TVC meeting, the sources said.
