Accessibility of COWIN app, tax on donations received as COVID-19 aid among issues raised before Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court was today appraised of difficulties that may be faced by some in accessing the COWIN application set up to aid the public in registering for COVID-19 vaccination..Amicus Curiae and Senior Advocate Rajshekhar Rao referred to a note submitted by the Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) through Advocate Vrinda Bhandari..The app may not be accessible to those unfamiliar with or not having access to the internet or technology, it was noted. ."Problem on the ground is because the process is electronic substantially... a large section of the population does not have access to it (COWIN)", Rajshekhar submitted today..Another concern raised by the IFF concerned data privacy. A third was regarding accessibility for persons with disabilities. "The third issue is regarding captcha code, so far as disabled persons are concerned... COWIN captcha code does not allow disabled persons to access easily," the Court was told. .This apart, Rao also flagged concern over the possible ramifications from a taxation viewpoint when it comes to raising funds for COVID-19 relief. In this regard, he referred to a note from Arun Agarwal, a former member of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act Appellate Tribunal. .The issue raised by Agarwal concerned how these donations would be treated. Persons receiving the money as COVID-19 donations may be served income tax notices in the future since the amounts so received may exceed their usual income, Rao explained..Justice Vipin Sanghi orally observed that the persons receiving money would have a responsibility to keep transparent accounts. .Rao suggested that some mechanism should be in place to identify these amounts as donations and not as money used for the expense of persons receiving it. .Agreeing that this is an issue that may have to be addressed, the Court said that it can direct the matter to be placed before the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT)..The matter was raised amid hearings in COVID-19 related matters before a Bench of Justices Sanghi and Jasmeet Singh today. .Other matters dealt with today included publicization of COVID-19 related information, regulation of oxygen concentrator prices, status on uploading real-time updates by hospitals, release for domestic use of Remdesivir vials earlier marked for export purposes, supply of Amphotericin and more. .Read the live account of the hearing: