‘Footpath brokers’ extort Rs 18,000 per month from vendors in Hyderabad
HYDERABAD: Are you running out of space in the city to run a small business? If you are ready to shell out anything between Rs 15,000, you can actually get some space on footpaths in the city for rent! Yes, this actually happens in Hyderabad. Though it is illegal to construct a shop or install a pushcart on the space reserved for pedestrians, there are brokers in the city who can help you rent spaces in front of shops.
Many gullible pushcart vendors and petty shopkeepers, who do not realise that footpaths are public space, end up paying money to brokers to run their business at these locations. According to sources, this has been going on for the last several years and the brokers are reportedly backed by some ‘influential’ people. The issue came to light recently, when police picked up a wooden table placed on the footpath, in front of an ATM near the Taj Mahal Hotel in Abids. The table contained some mobile phones and spare parts. It belonged to Syed Faiaz who was running a mobile repair store from the footpath for the last three years.
Cops were shocked to find out that he was actually paying `18,000 per month to brokers for being ‘allowed’ to run his business there. Faiaz was brought to the Abids traffic police station and was booked for encroaching the pedestrian way. He had erected a 2 X 4 feet sized wooden box to keep the mobile phones and was using a chair to rest.
The 23-year-old, who is the only breadwinner for his family of four including two younger sisters, objected to the police from booking a case against him as he has been paying rent for using the footpath to run his business. “Faiyaz told that he has been paying `18,000 per month towards rent to a trio (brokers), who claimed that they own the footpath. For the last three years, he was paying the money,” said M Suman Kumar, inspector, Abids traffic police station.
Faiyaz, who realised that he was duped by the brokers, lodged a complaint with the Abids police, who have registered a case against three persons - Faiz, Osman and Premchandra Reddy for extorting money, but no arrests have been made. Central zone DCP P Viswa Prasad said “It has come to our notice that some persons are extorting money from roadside eateries and pushcart vendors. We are investigating the case.”