Roadside vendors to be blacklisted for violating norms | Pune News

Pune: After the crackdown on illegal hawkers, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has decided to curb authorised roadside vendors who were flouting norms or did not pay their dues.“PMC will blacklist these vendors. The administration may suspend the trade licences of repeat offenders,” said Somnath Bankar, head of PMC’s anti-encroachment department. PMC data show that the city has 21,000 legal hawkers. At present, the civic administration has to recover dues of around Rs 40 crore from these vendors.

The PMC officials said the licence fee was finalised in 2019 and defined six categories based on areas and business prospects. These are groups such as A++ (Rs 200), A1 (Rs 100), A (Rs 50), B (Rs 25), C (Rs 20), and E workers (Rs 5).“Large numbers of these hawkers cover footpaths and create trouble for pedestrians. Walking on the road is a tough task for common citizens,” said Ketaki Paranjape, a resident of Sinhagad Road.“Actions such as heavy penalties or filing offences must be taken to stop repeat offenders. The administration should focus on areas like FC Road and JM Road,” said Shantanu Gosavi, a resident of Paud Road.According to PMC officials, the civic administration has regularly been removing hawkers. Special drives were being conducted in areas like Fergusson Road, JM Road, Satara Road and Sinhagad Road.PMC officials said renewal of licences is necessary for more than one reason. It helps licensed traders to receive the benefits of the PMC’s hawkers’ policy. They are also eligible for the welfare schemes introduced by state as well as the Union govt.A hawkers’ policy was drafted for better management of roadside vendors. Options like assigning colour codes, a logo for identifying authorised hawkers, etc, are being explored under this policy. A biometric system was also introduced for cross-verifying the authenticity of vendors and the licences given to them.