Mumbai, March 27: The long-standing issue regarding elections for the city-level and ward-level hawkers’ committees has finally been resolved. Following the directives of the High Court, the counting of votes for hawkers’ representatives of the Town Vending Committee (TVC) will take place on Saturday, March 28, with the results scheduled to be announced on the same day.
Vote counting to proceed after court clearance
The TVC, chaired by the BMC chief, guides the implementation of the hawkers’ policy. It includes seven zonal committees with 20 members each, eight of whom are hawkers’ representatives. Elections were held on August 29, 2024, with a 49.46% average turnout.
Following Supreme Court directives and pending petitions, vote counting and result declaration were withheld, and ballot boxes remained securely sealed for the past one and a half years.
High Court validates election process
On March 23, 2026, the Bombay High Court delivered its final verdict in the matter, declaring the election process conducted in 2024 as ‘valid’ and lifted the suspension on vote counting. The administration was also directed to declare the results without delay.
"As per the court order, counting of votes will now be carried out immediately," confirmed a civic official. The BMC has appealed to all candidates, their representatives, petitioners, relevant associations and other stakeholders to be present for the process.
Meeting held to discuss immediate result declaration
Meanwhile, in accordance with the court’s directives regarding the announcement of the TVC election results, a meeting of group leaders was held on Friday under the chairmanship of the Mayor to discuss the immediate declaration of results.
During the meeting, group leaders requested that municipal workers be included as members in the TVC. The meeting also reviewed the eligibility of 99,435 applicants for the election. Tawde has forwarded proposals to the administration for feedback to enable swift decision-making on these matters.
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Background of hawkers’ policy and survey
The BMC began developing the hawkers’ policy following Parliament's passage of the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act in 2014 and a subsequent Supreme Court order.
During a 2016 survey, the BMC identified 1.65 lakh hawkers, though only 99,000 submitted forms. The BMC has designated 400 hawking zones throughout the city.
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