NDMC’s digital push to store street vendors’ records

NEW DELHI:  The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) is working on a project to store the records related to the registration and licensure of the authorised vendors digitally. The IT department of the central civic body is developing software for the task, officials said. The software, aimed to address the rising incidence of documents going missing from the enforcement department, is being developed by the IT department and is likely to be launched within a month.

According to officials, a unique account will be provided to the vendors based on the site, area and registration numbers of the vendors whose files have been misplaced or remained half documented in the enforcement department.

To make the documents remain secure online, the accounts will be linked to the allottee’s mobile number and would require OTP access, they said. “We don’t have certain important files that are fully documented. Besides, misplacing of files is also rampant. We hope that with the use of software, all the necessary documents will be preserved digitally,” a senior official said.

The initiative will also check on the harassment faced by the vendors due to the absence of the necessary documents, he added. “Many a time, a vendor is harassed because of misplaced or incomplete documents. The interface is built in such a manner that the documents uploaded by the vendors can be accessed by the authorities,” the official said.

Besides, the civic body has also planned to digitise the payment process for the vendors. Meanwhile, an online grievances and complaints forum will also be opened up for them. “The initiative will initially start with the online payment of the licence fee, which the vendors had to submit physically. In the next phase, the grievances and complaints forum and the digital records' preservation will be rolled out,” a senior official said. According to the officials, the initiatives will benefit around 900 authorised vendors of 
the NDMC.