Street Vendor Eviction Rights: 30 Days Notice, Same Day

A municipal van pulls up and the cart is loaded. That happens every day in Indian cities, and in most cases at least one provision of the Street Vendors Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending Act, 2014 has just been broken. The Act sets hard numbers: thirty days of notice before eviction, a signed list of anything seized, and same-day release of perishable goods.

Here is what the statute actually requires, section by section, so you can say which one was skipped.

Section 18(4) adds the sequence. A vendor may be physically relocated or evicted only after he has failed to vacate following expiry of the period specified in the notice. Physical eviction is the last step, not the first.

Section 19(1) puts seizure in the same queue. Goods may be seized only if the vendor fails to vacate after the lapse of the period specified in the section 18(3) notice. And the proviso to section 19(1) requires that where a seizure is carried out, a list of the goods seized shall be prepared as specified in the scheme, and a copy of it, duly signed by the person authorised to seize, shall be issued to the street vendor.

Section 3 is the provision most vendors have never heard of, and it is the strongest one in the Act.

Section 3(1) requires the Town Vending Committee to conduct a survey of all existing street vendors within its jurisdiction, within the period and manner specified in the scheme, with a fresh survey at least once every five years.

Section 3(2) requires the Committee to ensure that all existing street vendors identified in that survey are accommodated in the vending zones, subject to a norm conforming to two and a half per cent of the population of the ward, zone, town or city, in accordance with the plan for street vending and the holding capacity of the vending zones.

Then section 3(3):

• No street vendor shall be evicted or relocated till the survey specified under sub-section (1) has been completed and the certificate of vending is issued to all street vendors.

Read that twice. The bar operates on the whole area, not on your individual paperwork. If the Town Vending Committee has not completed its survey, and has not issued certificates to all street vendors, the power to evict has not yet arisen at all.

Section 4(1) completes the chain. Every street vendor identified in the section 3(1) survey who has completed fourteen years of age, or such age as the appropriate Government prescribes, shall be issued a certificate of vending by the Town Vending Committee.

1. A hearing comes first. Section 10 lets the Town Vending Committee cancel or suspend a certificate for breach of its conditions, or where it is satisfied the certificate was secured through misrepresentation or fraud. The proviso is unqualified: no such cancellation or suspension shall be made unless an opportunity of hearing has been given to the street vendor.
2. Appeal to the local authority. Section 11(1) gives anyone aggrieved by a Town Vending Committee decision on the issue of a certificate under section 6, or on cancellation or suspension under section 10, an appeal to the local authority, in the form, period and manner prescribed.
3. They must hear you on appeal too. Section 11(2) states that no appeal shall be disposed of by the local authority unless the appellant has been given an opportunity of hearing.

Note the practical consequence of section 18(2): the local authority shall evict a vendor whose certificate has been cancelled under section 10, or who vends without one. So the section 10 hearing and the section 11 appeal are the point at which the fight has to happen.

Chapter V of the Act creates a forum specifically for street vendors, and its composition is the interesting part.

Under section 20(1) the appropriate Government may constitute one or more committees consisting of a Chairperson who has been a civil judge or a judicial magistrate, and two other professionals with such experience as may be prescribed. The proviso then bars the obvious conflict: no employee of the appropriate Government or the local authority shall be appointed as a member of the committee.

That is a judicially chaired body with the municipality kept off it, which is a materially different forum from complaining to the same local authority that sent the van.

1. Section 20(2): every street vendor who has a grievance or dispute may make an application in writing to that committee, in the prescribed form and manner.
2. Section 20(3): on receipt, the committee shall, after verification and enquiry in the prescribed manner, take steps for redressal of the grievance or resolution of the dispute, within the prescribed time and manner.
3. Section 20(4): anyone aggrieved by the committee's decision may appeal to the local authority.
4. Section 20(5): the local authority shall dispose of that appeal within the prescribed time, and the proviso requires it to give the aggrieved person an opportunity of being heard first.

Much of section 20 runs on what the State has prescribed by rules. Whether your State has actually constituted this committee, and what time limits it has prescribed under section 20(3), is a question of fact and the first thing to ask by RTI.

The most valuable question is whether the section 3(1) survey has been completed and whether certificates have been issued to all street vendors. Until both are true, section 3(3) bars eviction outright.

To,
The Public Information Officer,
Office of the Municipal Commissioner / Chief Executive Officer,
[Name of Municipal Corporation, Municipality or local authority] .

Subject: Information under Section 6(1) of the RTI Act, 2005 regarding the
Street Vendors Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending
Act, 2014.

Sir/Madam,

Under Section 6(1) of the Right to Information Act, 2005, please provide:

1. The date on which the survey of all existing street vendors under
   Section 3(1) was last completed in this local authority area, and a copy of
   the survey report. If no survey has been completed, please state so in
   writing.

2. The total number of street vendors identified in that survey, and the number
   to whom a certificate of vending has been issued under Section 4(1), as on
   date.

3. The holding capacity of the vending zones as determined against the norm of
   two and a half per cent of the population under Section 3(2), ward-wise.

4. A copy of the constitution of the Town Vending Committee, with the names and
   categories of its members.

5. A copy of every notice issued under Section 18(3) in this ward in the last
   twelve months, and in respect of the eviction carried out on [date] at
   [place] , a copy of the thirty-day notice served.

6. The number of seizures under Section 19(1) in the last twelve months, and
   the number of cases in which a signed list of seized goods was issued to the
   vendor as required by the proviso to Section 19(1).

7. A copy of the notification constituting the committee under Section 20(1)
   for this area, with the name and former judicial office of its Chairperson,
   and the rules prescribing the time within which it must act under
   Section 20(3). If no such committee has been constituted, please state so
   in writing.

I enclose the prescribed application fee of ₹10. If any part of this
information is held by another public authority, please transfer that part
under Section 6(3) within five days. Please supply the information within the
period fixed by Section 7(1).

Yours faithfully,
[Name]
[Full postal address]
[Date]

Points 1 and 2 together decide whether section 3(3) was breached. Build the application with the AI RTI Drafter, set the reply date with the Timeline Tracker, and if the municipality answers vaguely, test it with the PIO Reply Checker.

• Believing that no certificate means no rights. Section 3(3) bars eviction of any street vendor until the survey is complete and certificates are issued to all street vendors.
• Letting goods go without a list. The proviso to section 19(1) entitles you to a list signed by the person authorised to seize.
• Waiting on perishable stock. The proviso to section 19(2) requires same-day release of perishables once you claim them.
• Skipping the section 10 hearing. Cancellation cannot happen without an opportunity of hearing, and once cancelled, section 18(2) makes eviction mandatory.
• Missing the section 11 appeal. It lies to the local authority, and section 11(2) guarantees you a hearing in it.
• Not asking whether the section 20 committee exists. It is chaired by a former civil judge or judicial magistrate, and no municipal employee may sit on it.

Thirty days. Section 18(3) says no street vendor shall be relocated or evicted by the local authority from the place specified in the certificate of vending unless he has been given thirty days notice, in the manner specified in the scheme.

The proviso to section 19(2) draws a line by type. For non-perishable goods the local authority shall release them within two working days of the claim being made. For perishable goods it shall release them on the same day the claim is made. Reclaiming is otherwise on payment of the fees specified in the scheme.

Section 18(2) requires the local authority to evict a vendor who has no certificate. But section 3(3) sits above it: no street vendor shall be evicted or relocated until the section 3(1) survey has been completed and the certificate of vending is issued to all street vendors. Whether that survey is complete is a factual question, and question 1 in the RTI above.

Section 18(5) allows a penalty of up to ₹250 for every day of default, as determined by the local authority, but expressly caps it so that it shall not be more than the value of the goods seized.

Under section 20(1) a committee constituted by the appropriate Government, with a Chairperson who has been a civil judge or a judicial magistrate and two other professionals. The proviso bars any employee of the appropriate Government or the local authority from being a member. You apply in writing under section 20(2).

Yes. Section 20(4) allows an appeal to the local authority, and section 20(5) requires the local authority to dispose of it within the prescribed time, after giving the aggrieved person an opportunity of being heard.

At least once in every five years, under section 3(1). Section 21(1) separately requires every local authority to prepare a plan for street vending once in every five years, in consultation with the planning authority and on the recommendations of the Town Vending Committee.

• The Street Vendors Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending Act, 2014, full text on India Code: indiacode.gov.in
• Sections 3, 4, 10, 11, 18, 19, 20 and 21 of that Act, quoted above from the India Code text
• Right to Information Act, 2005: full text with the 14 November 2025 amendment

• The RTI Playbook, the full method from application to second appeal
• PM SVANidhi street vendor loan, and the certificate of vending you need for it
• AI RTI Drafter to build the application above
• First Appeal Builder if the municipality misses the thirty-day deadline
• RTI Act, 2005, full text

Reviewed by Dr. Shrawan Kumar Pathak. Last verified against the India Code text of the Street Vendors Act, 2014 on 30 August 2026.