The authorities said the fee has been increased as on one form, a contractor will be allotted five vends at a time. However, the small contractors feel that earlier they used to apply for many vends, but now it's not possible because of the hefty fee. They feel that the field is open only for big players.

Within Municipal Corporation limits, the form fee is Rs 20,000, while for committees it is Rs 10,000 and for rural areas Rs 6,000. Earlier, the form fee for all the sectors was Rs 6,000. Two vends will be allotted at a time on a form in committee areas, said Assistant Excise and Taxation Commissioner HPS Gotra.

The number of vends once again has been increased from 876 last year to 909 for coming fiscal in Ludhiana. Revenue has also been increased by 5.32 per cent from Rs 241.58 crore of current fiscal to Rs 254.45 crore for 2008-09.