The Delhi high court has issued notice on plea for making the mobile ride application Rapido disabled friendly.
A bench of Justice Subramonium Prasad while looking to plea filed by corporate lawyer and disability rights activist Amar Jain asked the Roppen Transportation Services Pvt Ltd’s Rapido and the Centre to respond to the plea by 20 December 2023.
In his plea the activist stated that Rapido’s mobile ride application fails to provide accessibility needs of disabled individuals.
The application has issues due to the operational flaws that rendered the app unusable for persons with disabilities (PwD).
The plea reads that working in the iOS , the option to cancel a ride is inaccessible, as there are several unlabelled buttons, including the names of the vendors through which payments are to be made along with option to message the driver is inaccessible.
In his plea Jain has also contended that the Rapido’s mobile ride application fails to provide an option for PwDs to communicate their additional needs such as request for a little extra wait time, help with finding the location while booking a ride.
It was also mentioned that Rapido has not sensitised its drivers,the needs of disabled people due to which they cannot address the needs suitably addressed.
Referring to the mandate on the public and private service providers under the Rights of Persons with Disability Act (RPwD) and RPwD rules to make their digital platforms fully accessible to PwD’s,
The plea seeks Centre for ensuring that disabled friendly guidance is provided to the cab aggregators.