Bombay HC Orders BMC to Speed Up Complaint System as 47000 Hawkers Get QR IDs
On Tuesday, the Bombay High Court directed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to make its illegal hawking complaint redressal system quicker and more efficient. The directive came after a petitioner highlighted that it took more than 40 minutes to navigate the civic body's WhatsApp-based chatbot to report illegal hawking in Colaba, Mumbai. During the hearing, the BMC also informed the court that it has issued QR code-enabled identity cards to over 47,000 surveyed hawkers to help distinguish them from unauthorized vendors.
A bench of Justices Ajey S. Gadkari and Kamal R. Khata was hearing petitions concerning unauthorized hawkers and stalls in Mumbai, seeking strict enforcement of previous court orders. The court expressed dissatisfaction with the BMC's current automated complaint system, noting that a slow AI chatbot defeats the purpose of grievance redressal. "Time is money in a city like Mumbai," the judges remarked, urging authorities to resolve the issue.
The petitioners argued that the WhatsApp chatbot had become a "complaint-deterrent mechanism" because it only provided automated responses instead of ensuring quick redressal under the supervision of a senior officer. Advocate Jamshed Mistry, appointed as amicus curiae, suggested that the state government establish a grievance redressal committee to tackle the issue.
Senior Advocate Anil Singh, representing the BMC, presented progress on the distribution of identity cards. He stated that the civic body has issued QR code-enabled identity cards to 47,723 of the 99,435 surveyed hawkers, which represents 47.99 percent.
Singh explained that while 13,772 hawkers had been contacted, they failed to visit the designated offices to collect their cards, and another 2,755 hawkers had unreachable contact numbers. He assured the court that the BMC would take immediate action against any hawkers found violating Supreme Court guidelines, without waiting for further court orders.
The distribution of smart cards follows a May 6 directive from the High Court ordering the state and the BMC to issue QR code-enabled cards to the 99,435 surveyed hawkers. While the court had initially set a five-week deadline, it granted the BMC an additional three weeks on June 10.
Additionally, the BMC assured the bench that it would investigate allegations raised by a petitioner regarding the illegal transfer of licenses or the use of incorrect documents by some hawkers to obtain identity cards.
