Pune’s authorised street vendors are facing a ₹750 penalty after the Pune Municipal Corporation’s encroachment department allegedly failed to distribute advance fee bills before the payment deadline, according to a representation submitted by the Jaaniv Sanghatana. The organisation has demanded immediate cancellation of the penalty, a six-month extension for payment and permission to pay the dues in instalments.
Sanjay Shanke, the organisation’s Maharashtra state secretary, submitted the representation to the mayor and the municipal commissioner, who is also the chairperson of the town vending committee. The complaint raises concerns about delays in distributing fee bills through the civic body’s regional offices.
According to the representation, authorised street vendors are required to pay advance fees for October, November and December. The payment is due before the 20th of the month. However, the organisation said vendors had not received their bills even after the October 20 deadline had passed.
The organisation further claimed that bills had still not been distributed by the regional offices by October 24. As a result, vendors who later approached the civic administration to pay the fee were allegedly charged the original amount along with a ₹750 penalty.
The dispute centres on whether vendors should be penalised when the delay in receiving the payment bills was caused by the municipal administration. Shanke said vendors could not have paid within the prescribed period without receiving the bills and argued that the additional charge had created an avoidable financial burden for them.
The organisation has asked the municipal administration to cancel the penalty immediately and recover the amount from the officials responsible for the delay, rather than from the vendors. It has also sought a six-month extension for authorised vendors to clear the fee and requested that the outstanding amount be accepted in instalments.
The representation places the issue within the municipal system governing authorised street vending, where fee collection, billing and enforcement are administered through the civic body and the town vending committee. The supplied report does not state whether the Pune Municipal Corporation has accepted the demands, withdrawn the penalties or issued a separate explanation for the delayed distribution of bills.
The next step is for the mayor, municipal commissioner and town vending committee to consider the organisation’s demands on penalty cancellation, extended payment time and instalment-based payment for authorised street vendors.
