Section 2. Definitions
(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,--
(a) appropriate Government means in respect of matters relating to,--
(i) a Union territory without Legislature, the Central Government;
(ii) the Union territories with Legislature, the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi or, as the case may be, the Government of Union territory of Puducherry;
(iii) a State, the State Government;
(b) holding capacity means the maximum number of street vendors who can in any vending zone and has been determined as such by the local authority on the commendations of the Town Vending Committee;
(c) local authority means a Municipal Corporation or a Municipal Council or a Nagar Panchayat, by whatever name called, or the Cantonment Board, or as the case may be, a civil area committee appointed under section 47 of the Cantonment Act, 2006(41 of 2006)or such other body entitled to function as a local authority in any city or town to provide civic services and regulate street vending and includes the planning authority which regulates the land use in that city or town;
(d) mobile vendors means street vendors who carry out vending activities in designated area by moving from one place to another place vending their goods and services;
(e) natural market means a market where sellers and buyers have traditionally congregated for the sale and purchase of products or services and has been determine das such by the local authority on the recommendations of the Town Vending Committee;
(f) notification means a notification published in the Official Gazette and the term notify shall be construed accordingly;
(g) planning authority means an Urban Development Authority or any other authority in any city or town designated by the appropriate Government as responsible for regulating the land use by defining the precise extent of areas for any particular activity in the master plan or development plan or zonal plan or layout plan or any other spatial plan which is legally enforceable under the applicable Town and Country Planning Act or the Urban Development Act or the Municipal Act, as the case may be;
(h) prescribed means prescribed by rules made under this Act by the appropriate Government;
(i) Schedule means the Schedule annexed to this Act;
(j) scheme means a scheme framed by the appropriate Government under section 38;
(k) stationary vendors means street vendors who carry out vending activities on regular basis at a specific location;
(l) street vendor means a person engaged in vending of articles, goods, wares, food items or merchandise of everyday use or offering services to the general public, in a street, lane, sidewalk, footpath, pavement, public park or any other public place or private area, from a temporary built up structure or by moving from place to place and includes hawker, peddler, squatter and all other synonymous terms which may be local or region specific; and the words street vending with their grammatical variations and cognate expressions, shall be construed accordingly;
(m) Town Vending Committee means the body constituted by the appropriate Government under section 22;
(n) vending zone means an area or a place or a location designated as such by the local authority, on the recommendations of the Town Vending Committee, for the specific use by street vendors for street vending and includes footpath, side walk, pavement, embankment, portions of a street, waiting area for public or any such place considered suitable for vending activities and providing services to the general public.
(2) Any reference in this Act to any enactment or any provision thereof, shall, in relation to an area in which such enactment or such provision is not in force be construed as a reference to the corresponding law, if any, in force in that area.
STATE AMENDMENT
Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir
Section 2.--In sub-section (1), in clause (a), in sub-clause (ii), after "the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi", insert "the Government of the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir"
[Vide Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Adaptation of Central Laws) Second Order, 2020, Notification No. S.O. 3465(E), dated (5-10-2020).]
How courts have applied section 2
- Permanent structures on public land are not protected as street vending under the Act; the inbuilt injunction under Section 3(3) applies only to temporary structures.1,2,3,4
- Non-enlistment in a survey or voters list alone does not decide street vendor status; the Act's definition prevails.5,6
- Eviction or relocation of street vendors must follow the survey and notice procedure under Section 18.7
- Election of street-vendor members to the Town Vending Committee requires notification in the Official Gazette under Section 2(f); newspaper publication is not enough.8,9
- Experts temporarily associated with the Town Vending Committee under Section 24 have no right to vote.10
- The Act does not apply to an area that was a Gram Panchayat, not a town or city, even if later upgraded.11
Read the full overviewShow less· 3 paragraphs
The judgements here mostly concern the application of the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014 to eviction, relocation, and the constitution and functioning of Town Vending Committees. Courts have consistently held that the Act protects street vending under Article 19(1)(g) but subject to reasonable restrictions, and that eviction must follow the statutory procedure, particularly the survey and notice requirements under Section 3 and Section 18. Several orders directed authorities to consider rehabilitation claims rather than adjudicate on eviction or vendor status.12,7,1,2,3,4,13
A recurring question is who qualifies as a 'street vendor' under the Act. Courts have held that permanent brick-and-mortar structures or permanent encroachments on drains do not qualify for the Act's protection, including the inbuilt injunction under Section 3(3). Conversely, non-enlistment by the Municipal Corporation alone does not determine vendor status; a joint enquiry report that concluded a person was not a street vendor solely because they were not enlisted was rejected. Long-standing use of public land does not confer a right to continue occupation, and a temporary structure not qualifying as a jhuggi does not gain protection under the Act. In one case, the Act was held not to apply to a Gram Panchayat that was later upgraded to a Nagar Panchayat.1,2,3,4,5,14,11
Regarding procedural compliance, courts have emphasized that the intention to conduct elections of street-vendor members to the Town Vending Committee must be notified in the Official Gazette as per Section 2(f) read with the Rules; paper publication alone is insufficient. The Town Vending Committee's constitution and functioning have been examined, including the requirement that experts temporarily associated have no right to vote. Courts have also directed that vending zones must be declared, and a rejection of a licence application for a non-vending zone was sustained.8,9,10,15,16
By court
Outcomes
Judgements applying section 2
Street vendors; encroachment removal; Article 19(1)(g) trade rights; Article 19(6) reasonable restrictions; Article 21 dignity; Street Vendors Act 2014; Chandigarh Municipal Corporation bye laws 2018; vending zones; relocation and transition support; awareness drives; challans and enforcement;
Directions issuedOpenStreet Vendors Act 2014; Street Vendors Rules 2015; Rule 12; Town Vending Committee election; Official Gazette notification mandatory; paper publication insufficient; Section 2(f) definition of notification; Kadayanallur Municipality; Tenkasi District; Director of Municipal Administration; vending zone declaration;
AllowedOpenstreet vending; Town Vending Committee election; Tiruchirappalli/Trichy Corporation; Rule 12(1), Rule 13(5), Rules 12 & 13 of Rules/Scheme 2015; notification must be published in Official Gazette; District Gazette is relevant gazette for corporation; website and newspaper publication insufficient/void;
AllowedOpenTown Vending Committee Chandigarh; composition fixed at 12 members under Rule 12(2) Street Vendors Rules 2015; temporary association of experts under S.24 Act of 2014 read with Rule 22 — advice only, no voting right; attendance fee Rs.1,000 per meeting under Rule 18, no further allowance;
DisposedOpenVending zone; Section 2(n), Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014; City of Amritsar; Municipal Corporation, Amritsar; Public Interest Litigation; representation dated 23.03.2025 (Annexure P-3) undecided; competent authority respondent No. 1; speaking order within 60 days;
DisposedOpenStreet Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014 applicability to Nagar Panchayat; Section 2(c) 'local authority' includes Nagar Panchayat; eviction of petty vendors from road margin Gurajala-Karampudi Road adjoining Victoria Memorial Ananda Samajam;
DisposedOpen
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Article 226 writ petition by 45 vendors of fancy and readymade cloths occupying shops Nos.1-45 on the Ryves Canal bund, Lenin Centre, Vijayawada (NTS No.1015), challenging Notice No.123-T dated 27.03.2015 issued by the Assistant Engineer, Irrigation, Town Works Section;
AllowedOpenAppeal against dismissal of a writ petition challenging notices to remove an unauthorised ironing-work structure on public land near Moti Bagh. The Division Bench held the structure was not a jhuggi or protected street vendor stall, dismissed the appeal, but permitted an application to DUSIB.
Petitioners ran meat and other shops from kiosks on a public footpath at Haldwani. After an eviction notice, their structures were demolished before the writ petitions could be heard.
DisposedOpenMeat-shop owners at Haldwani challenged eviction notices and demolition by Nagar Nigam, claiming protection under the Street Vendors Act, 2014. The court found no title over State land and disposed of the petitions directing authorities to examine rehabilitation claims within four months.
DisposedOpenThis writ petition challenged eviction of shopkeepers by Haldwani Municipal Corporation. The court addressed claims under the Street Vendors Act and directed authorities to examine the petitioners' rehabilitation claims within four months without deciding on the legality of eviction in this appeal.
DisposedOpenSeveral writ petitions challenged the eviction of petitioners from shops in Haldwani and the subsequent demolition of structures. While noting the lack of title and no substantive record regarding their status under the Street Vendors Act, the Court directed municipal authorities to examine claims for rehabilitation…
DisposedOpen
Chennai street vending licence application rejected and upheld; Non-vending Zone; Township Vending Committee Zone 14 Perungudi; Consciousness Charitable Trust / Managing Trustee lacks locus standi;
DismissedOpenArun S/O Baghwan Pahade and Others Vs State of Maharashtra, Thr. Principal Secretary Urban Development Dept. and Others
Outcome: DisposedPetitioners claiming protection as street vendors under the 2014 Act sought to resist eviction by a Municipal Council pending survey and vending-list preparation.
DisposedOpenFive street vendors challenged an eviction order, claiming no comprehensive survey was conducted under the Street Vendors Act. The Court disposed of the writ petition, directing petitioners to raise grievances with the Grievance Redressal Committee under Section 20 of the Act within two weeks, pending which coercive…
DisposedOpenThis Court disposed of a writ petition challenging an eviction notice issued by the Odisha State Housing Board against a street vendor. The Court observed that street vendor identification does not depend solely on Municipal Corporation enlistment.
DisposedOpenThe Madurai Bench of Madras High Court disposed of two writ petitions filed by street vendors seeking a stay on relocation or eviction. The Court held that the local authority must conform to the due process of law, specifically Section 18 of the Street Vendors Act, 2014.
DisposedOpenHigh Court disposed of a writ petition concerning street vendors who had not received certificates due to a lack of Town Vending Committee meetings. The Court directed the Committee to hold a meeting and decide the applications within one month, pending which vendors could continue operations.
DisposedOpen
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Writ petition by traders occupying municipal shops at Nakrekal, claiming to be street vendors and seeking to restrain the municipality from dispossessing them after their leases expired. The court held they were lessees of permanent structures, not street vendors under the 2014 Act, and dismissed the petition.
DismissedOpenThe Guntur Footpath and Thopudu Veedhiballu Chiruvyaparula Sangham, Vs the State of Ap
Outcome: AllowedThe Court examined the eviction of fruit vendors from Lalapet market, Guntur. It held that the State must follow the procedure under the Street Vendors Act, 2014 before eviction and that the location was not a designated non-vending zone, thus allowing the petitioners to continue business.
AllowedOpenStreet vendors challenged eviction, while a public interest petition sought their removal from Fort Kochi Beach. The court dismissed the removal petition and disposed of the vendors’ petitions, directing statutory compliance within three months.
DisposedOpenStreet vendors facing eviction sought livelihood protection, while a public interest petition sought their removal from the Fort Kochi beach area. The court dismissed the removal petition and disposed of the vendors’ petitions with directions to implement statutory protections within three months, followed by eviction…
DisposedOpen