Delhi HC seeks response of Centre, RBI on the petition by a lawyer

The Delhi High Court on Monday sought the response of the Centre and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on a plea which claimed that banking and financial services were not accessible for the visually impaired.

A Bench of Chief Justice D.N. Patel and Justice C. Hari Shankar issued notice to the Ministries of Social Justice, Finance and the RBI on the plea by a visually impaired lawyer.

Advocate George Abraham sought directions to ensure that visually-challenged persons can access online and technology-based banking- and financial services.
 

His petition says visually-appealing persons are subjected to discrimination with regard to accessing online banking and other financial services.

This situation persists despite several government guidelines and a RBI master circular of 2015 that banking- and financial services should be made accessible for visually-challenged persons, the plea claimed.

Of the lakhs of ATM machines, only a few thousand are voice enabled or have Braille on the keys, the petitioner said, seeking directions to the RBI to ensure that all banks complied with its master circular and that voice enabled ATM machines are put in place.
The petition also sought that bank websites and mobile phone apps should be made accessible to visually challenged persons. The court will hear the case on April 16.
Source: https://www.thehindu.com/business/banking-services-not-accessible-to-visually-impaired-says-plea/article30609200.ece