Make App Disability-Friendly Or Pack Up: Delhi HC To Rapido

SUMMARY

While hearing a petition filed by a visually impaired person, the Court questioned how the app was allowed to function without complying with existing laws in the matter

The HC also reportedly directed MoRTH joint secretary to be present at the next date of hearing, and mention the steps taken to ensure that ride-hailing apps comply with accessibility norms

Meanwhile, an accessibility report showed 81 major failures, with regards to accessibility for specially-abled persons, on Rapido’s app

The Delhi High Court has reportedly pulled up ride-hailing giant Rapido for failing to ensure adequate accessibility of its app for specially-abled persons.

As per NDTV, the HC warned Rapido to improve the accessibility of its platform for such persons within four months or else “pack up from India”. While hearing a petition filed by a visually impaired person, the Court questioned how the app was allowed to function without complying with existing laws in the matter.

The HC also reportedly directed the joint secretary in the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) to provide an explanation in this regard. While directing the joint secretary to be present at the next date of hearing, the Court also ordered the senior government officials to mention the steps taken by the Ministry to ensure that ride-hailing apps comply with accessibility norms.

Meanwhile, the counsel for the petitioners, Rahul Bajaj, reportedly said that the ride-hailing platform furnished an accessibility audit report to the Court. As per the report, Bajaj claimed that the report showed 81 major failures, with regards to accessibility for specially-abled persons, on Rapido’s app.

“That report showed that there are 170 accessibility errors in the platform at the base level of WCAG level A… It also showed 81 major failures in the accessibility of the app, and this is as per their own audit. Quite apart from the concerns that we got from disabled users which we were also carrying,” he reportedly added.

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) Level A represents the minimum level of accessibility conformance, focusing on the most critical requirements to ensure that websites are usable by those with disabilities.

This comes six months after Delhi HC directed the ride-hailing unicorn to submit a compliance report from an empanelled “access auditor” on the accessibility of its app for persons with disability.

The direction came in response to a plea filed by accessibility activist Amar Jain and visually impaired banker Dipto Ghosh Choudhary against Rapdio. The petitioners alleged that the Rapido app fails to cater to the needs of disabled individuals, adding that certain features of the platform renders accessibility software, for screen reading, “significantly unusable” by specially-abled persons.

Previously, Rapido had conceded accessibility issues on its app and had promised that it would update its app to comply with accessibility standards under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016.

The development comes months after Rapido, in August 2024, entered the unicorn club after raising $120 Mn from existing investor WestBridge Capital.

Founded in 2015 by Rishikesh SR, Pavan Guntupalli, and Aravind Sanka, offers bike taxi and cab services. It also offers peer-to-peer delivery services under Rapido Local.

On the financial front, Rapido’s net loss widened over 50% to INR 674.5 Cr in the financial year 2022-23 (FY23) from INR 439 Cr in the previous fiscal year. Meanwhile, operating revenue soared to INR 443 Cr in the fiscal under review from INR 144.8 Cr in FY22.