As in many developing countries, Indian street vendors constitute a substantial proportion of the informal sector, providing affordable goods to the urban poor and filling a valuable economic and social role in the urban cityscape. There are an estimated 10 million street vendors in India and 350,000 in New Delhi alone. These workers are disproportionately women. Contrary to previously held assumptions, the number of informal sector workers in India has been growing rather than shrinking. Yet street vendors struggle at the margins of the economy, facing police harassment, arbitrary restrictions on their work, and local officials hostile to informal markets. This working paper addresses the opportunity created by the Indian Supreme Court to shape Indian street vending laws and regulations through the construction of a comprehensive national framework. Based upon an international comparison of street vending regulatory approaches, it examines possible frameworks and provisions that Indian policymakers may consider during the legislative drafting process and suggests approaches that street vendor advocates may want to propose.
URL : http://www.law.yale.edu/documents/pdf/Clinics/TDC_ComparativeStudyStreetVending.pdf