The PM Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) was launched by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs on June 01, 2020 for providing affordable Working Capital loan to street vendors to resume their livelihoodsthat have been adversely affected due to Covid-19 lockdown.
This scheme targets to benefit over 50 lakh Street Vendors.
A vendor, according to the scheme guidelines is any person engaged in vending of articles, goods, wares, food items or merchandise of daily use or offering services to the public in a street, footpath, pavement etc., from a temporary built up structure or by moving from place to place. The goods supplied by them include vegetables, fruits, ready-to-eat street food, tea, pakodas, breads, eggs, textile, apparel, artisan products, books/ stationary etc. and the services include barber shops, cobblers, pan shops, laundry services etc.
To avail the loan, a vendor should
Possess Certificate of Vending / Identity Card issued by Urban Local Bodies (ULBs);
The vendors, who have been identified in the survey of street vendors but have not been issued Certificate of Vending / Identity Card;
In case a vendor is left out of the survey, he/she need to produce one of the following documents to obtain the Letter of Recommendation (LoR) from Urban Local Bodies /TVC:
Documents of past loan taken from a bank/ NBFC/ MFI for the purpose of vending; or
Membership details, If member of street vendors’ association like NASVI, NHF, SEWA etc.; or
Any other documents to prove that s/he is a vendor;
The vendor can also request ULB through a simple application on white paper to conduct local enquiry to ascertain the genuineness of his/her claim for receipt of LoR.
KYC document needed : Aadhaar Card / Voter’s Identity Card / Driving Licence / MNREGA Card / PAN Card.
To check if your name is present in the survey of street vendors, click here.
Scheme Benefits
Vendors can avail a working capital loan of up to Rs. 10,000, which is repayable in monthly instalments in the tenure of one year.
On timely/ early repayment of the loan, an interest subsidy @ 7% per annum will be credited to the bank accounts of beneficiaries through Direct Benefit Transfer on quarterly basis.
There will be no penalty on early repayment of loan.
The scheme promotes digital transactions through cash back incentives up to an amount of Rs. 100 per month.
The vendors can avail the facility of escalation of the credit limit on timely/ early repayment of loan.
Street vendors represent a very important constituent of the urban informal economy and play a significant role in ensuring availability of the goods and services at affordable rates at the door-step of the city dwellers. They are known as vendors, hawkers, thelewala, rehriwala, theliphadwala etc. in different areas/ contexts. The goods supplied by them include vegetables, fruits, ready-to-eat street food, tea, pakodas, breads, eggs, textile, apparel, footwear, artisan products, books/ stationary etc. The services include barber shops, cobblers, pan shops, laundry services etc. The COVID-19 pandemic and consequent lockdowns have adversely impacted the livelihoods of street vendors. They usually work with a small capital base and might have consumed the same during the lockdown. Therefore, there is an urgent need to provide credit for working capital to street vendors to resume their business.
The scheme is a Central Sector Scheme i.e. fully funded by Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs with the following objectives: (i) To facilitate working capital loan up to `10,000; (ii) To incentivize regular repayment; and (iii) To reward digital transactions
The scheme will help formalize the street vendors with above objectives and will open up new opportunities to this sector to move up the economic ladder.
The Scheme is available for beneficiaries belonging to only those States/UTs which have notified Rules and Scheme under Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014. Beneficiaries from Meghalaya, which has its own State Street Vendors Act may, however, participate.
The Scheme is available to all street vendors engaged in vending in urban areas as on or before March 24, 2020. The eligible vendors will be identified as per following criteria:
(i) Street vendors in possession of Certificate of Vending / Identity Card issued by Urban
Local Bodies (ULBs); (ii) The vendors, who have been identified in the survey but have not been issued Certificate of Vending / Identity Card;
Provisional Certificate of Vending would be generated for such vendors through an IT based Platform. ULBs are encouraged to issue such vendors the permanent Certificate of Vending and Identification Card immediately and positively within a period of one month.
(iii) Street Vendors, left out of the ULB identification survey or who have started vending after completion of the survey and have been issued Letter of
(iv) The vendors of surrounding development/ peri-urban / rural areas vending in the geographical limits of the ULBs and have been issued Letter of Recommendation (LoR) to that effect by the ULB / TVC.