Delhi HC issues notice to Centre, RBI in Plea to make physical, digital currency accessible to visually impaired

The Delhi High Court has issued notice to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Centre in a plea to stop the circulation of physical currency inaccessible to the visually impaired, and to withdraw all such inaccessible physical currency in a phased manner..The petition also seeks a direction to the Centre and the RBI to lay down “standards for design of bank notes and coins”, making all forms of physical currency as well as digital means of transactions accessible to the visually impaired..The matter was listed before the Division Bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice V Kameswar Rao..The petition preferred by Blind Graduates Forum of India further seeks a direction to the Centre and RBI to lay down standards for banking services, banking portals, websites, banking apps, payment gateways, hardware devices like ATMs, point of sale devices, self-service passbook printers, cash collection devices, and similar devices and services in order to make them accessible to the visually impaired..In order to ensure strict compliance, a direction to conduct periodic audits every 6 months is also sought..Filed through Advocate Ila Haldia, the petition invokes Section 40, Section 2(ze) of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 read with Rule 15(2) of the Right of Persons with Disabilities Rules, 2017, to assert that the government is duty bound to “provide universal designs and lay down standards of accesibility for various aspects in order to ensure empowerment and independence of the persons with disabilities.”.Therefore, the petitioner argues that even with respect to physical currency as well as digital means of transactions, there ought to be universal design/uniform standards which would ensure accessibility to all persons, including the visually impaired..Currently, the petitioner claims, neither the physical currency nor digital means of financial transactions are accessible to the blind, in spite of the various recommendations, representations and meetings giving inputs for making these accessible..It is also claimed that regulated entities such as scheduled commercial banks, small finance banks, mobile wallet providers etc, are not complying with the Guidelines for Indian Government Websites, 2018, which provide for standards to make websites and mobile applications accessible to all persons with disabilities including those with visual impairment..The petition also submits that in spite of several assurances, the RBI introduced the new 100 rupee denomination, “dimensions of which were once again not blind friendly”..The petitioner therefore relies on Article 21 of the Constitution to state that the expansive understanding of right to life assumes greater proportions in respect of persons with visual impairment. The visually impaired need a “higher number of compensative skill enhancing facilities in order to go about their daily lives without suffering the indignity of being generally perceived as being dependent and helpless”, the petition states..The matter will be next heard in the first week of April..Pursuant to recommendations made before the Delhi High Court in April last year, the RBI had intimated that it will be exploring ways to make identification of Indian currency easier for visually challenged persons. This, after a petition was filed in the High Court stating that the visually impaired could not identify the new Rs. 50 note..Read the Petition: