Section 20 of the Act gives the appropriate government the authority to form one or more committees to resolve street vendor disputes.
Fig 7: Grievance redressal and Dispute Resolution Committee
This Grievance redressal and Dispute Resolution Committee is led by a Chairperson who has served as a civil judge or judicial magistrate, as well as two additional experts including a retired secretary of a Municipal Corporation and a prominent social worker having experience in the field of informal economy. The office of the State Poverty Eradication Mission shall act as the secretarial office of the committee, along with the Executive Director Kudumbasree shall also be involved in assisting the local authority in holding the committee meetings.
The Grievance redressal and Dispute Resolution Committee may choose to conduct an investigation or take other action to resolve the vendor's issues. The committee's term will be three years, or until the government appoints a new committee. The Government may remove the chairperson and members of the committee if he is insolvent; convicted of an offence,; physically or mentally incapable of functioning as chairperson; acquired financial or other interests that may impair his functions, or has abused his position to the point where his continuation in office is jeopardised. The place of sitting of the committee shall be Thiruvananthapuram.
Vendors dissatisfied with any situation they want to bring to the committee’s notice can apply. The grievance shall be recorded in Form 6, either from the vendor individually or through an affiliated union stating his name, place of residence, and specifics of his issue. The street seller must apply within 30 days after the occurrence of the incident causing the dispute. After the receipt of the application is issued, the committee will call a preliminary hearing to know whether there is a prima facie case, and the result will be recorded. The committee will give personal hearing to both parties and shall pass the order in writing.
Fig 8: Form ‘6’ - Application to Grievance redressal and Dispute Resolution Committee for redressal of grievance or resolution of dispute of street vendor
If the vendor has an appeal against the decision made by the Grievance Redressal and Dispute Resolution Committee they shall bring it to the local authority (Municipality/Municipal Corporation).
Fig 9: Procedure for Appeal against Decision of the Committee
Figure 10: Appeal to the local authority against the decision of the grievance redressal and dispute resolution committee
As per the study of Centre for Civil Society, only four states have constituted for a Grievance Redressal Committee as of March, 2020. Grievance mechanisms are crucial in keeping up interaction and a democratic framework for the vending system.
The Kerala State rules seemed to have areas where a complete picture was lacking. The Kerala state rules does not mention about the fee to be given by the vendor when filing an application to the committee for dispute redressal and the situations when a particular grievance would not be entertained.
For example, the Street Vending Rules of Tripura mentions that in the following conditions, the committee shall not entertain an application:
Therefore, it is suggested that the gaps in the grievance redress mechanism as given in the Kerala Rules be included in the bye laws drafted by the local government. Further they have to mention the composition of the appeal committee, procedure and powers to dispose of appeals in the bye laws.
