In India’s urban economy, street vendors play a crucial role by providing reasonably priced items and services that sustain millions of people’s livelihoods.  Despite the Supreme Court’s and Parliament’s recognition of the constitutional value of the right to livelihood and the subsequent enactment of a statutory system (the Street Vendors Act, 2014), it is still difficult to put protections into practice, particularly in crowded cities like Delhi.  This study looks at how Delhi’s street vendors’ fundamental rights are “guarded” by law and jurisprudence, evaluates the institutional arrangements made (Town Vending Committees, vending surveys, vending certificates, hawking zones), finds policy and enforcement gaps, and makes comparative and useful suggestions to improve vendors’ protection and dignity. Statutes, Supreme Court precedent, Delhi regulations and plans, empirical research, official policy documents, and secondary literature are all used in the analysis. In addition to the statutory framework, various judicial precedents, particularly the Olga Tellis v. Bombay Municipal Corporation case, have further entrenched the recognition of the right to livelihood under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution. This case highlighted the importance of ensuring that no individual is deprived of their livelihood without following a fair and just process, a principle that laid the groundwork for the legislative measures that followed. These legal foundations form the basis for the Street Vendors Act, which sought to regulate street vending and provide street vendors with legal recognition and protection. Despite these advancements, challenges remain in their application, especially in cities like Delhi, where urban congestion, competing interests, and bureaucratic inefficiencies complicate the enforcement of these protections. The presence of informal sectors, which often operate outside the bounds of formal city planning, further exacerbates the struggle for vendors to claim their legal entitlements. This paper seeks to explore how these gaps in legal implementation manifest on the ground and assesses the extent to which Delhi’s governance structures are aligned with the legislative intent behind the Street Vendors Act. Moreover, it aims to offer actionable recommendations to bridge these gaps by leveraging comparative insights from other Indian cities and international examples. Through this, the study aims to provide a holistic view of the regulatory framework and the real-world hurdles faced by street vendors.