TFP Bureau, Raipur, November 8, 2025. The state government has introduced stringent regulations to curb unauthorized business operations in urban areas, mandating that all kiosk owners, stall operators and mobile vendors obtain a trade license. Urban local bodies have been instructed to begin immediate action against unlicensed commercial activities, while the administration has initiated surveys to identify such establishments across municipal corporation and municipality limits.
According to the new rules, traders operating kiosks, roadside stalls, fruit and vegetable carts, mobile shops and fast-food vans must pay a permit fee and secure a formal license to continue business. Officials stated that the move aims to streamline commercial activity, prevent roadside encroachments, reduce traffic obstructions and improve revenue collection. Goods of unlicensed vendors may be confiscated, and penalties will be imposed for violations.
However, the decision has drawn strong criticism from the Opposition. Senior state Congress spokesperson Dhananjay Singh Thakur questioned the rationale behind imposing a mandatory trade license when, he said, 99 percent of traders already possess a Gumasta (shop and establishment) license that has traditionally served as the basis for business operations.
Thakur described the newly prescribed annual fees—Rs. 30,000 in municipal corporation areas, Rs. 20,000 in municipality areas and Rs. 10,000 in panchayat areas—as excessive and unfair. He also termed the provision for a 5 percent fee hike every two years as “blatant extortion,” warning that the new licensing system would trigger harassment, corruption, and bureaucratic hurdles for small and medium-sized traders.
The Congress spokesperson further alleged that the previous Congress government had extended the validity of the Gumasta license to five years, a provision the current BJP government reversed soon after assuming office. He said traders who already hold Gumasta licenses are now being compelled to obtain additional trade licenses, placing an unnecessary burden on businesses already struggling in a period of economic slowdown.
Thakur demanded that trade licenses be issued free of cost to existing Gumasta license holders and that the government roll back the newly imposed fee structure. The Congress warned that the new system could disrupt business activity and exacerbate unemployment, arguing that the government, instead of generating jobs, is creating conditions that may force many traders out of work.
