NEW DELHI: The Court of the Chief Commissioner of Persons with Disabilities has imposed a penalty of Rs 10,000 each on nearly 155 establishments for failing to comply with accessibility standards for websites, mobile applications and other digital platforms. These include most central ministries, their departments and several private establishments.
The chief commissioner of persons with disabilities (CCPD) proposes to impose higher penalties on the establishments that fail the compliance review to be held after Feb 28. The establishments have been asked to deposit the penalty amount in the National fund for Persons with Disabilities.
CCPD had sought access audit reports as stipulated by law from all ministries and wanted to know if ‘access auditors’ had been appointed. The letter sent out by the court shows that only 20 establishments appointed an access auditor for verifying if the websites and apps comply with accessibility standards that aim to enable blind, deaf and deaf-blind persons to access the online mode. Only six establishments have been able to submit access audit reports. These include the ministry of external affairs, Tata Digital Private Ltd (Tata Neu), Reliance Industries Ltd (Jio set-top box), National Depository Ltd, Pluxee India Private Ltd and Yatra Online Ltd.