Centre for Internet and Society

Ranking Digital Rights 2015 Annexure 2

praskrishna — 2016-12-09T02:39:13Z

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/files/ranking-digital-rights-2015-annexure-2.pdf

Ranking Digital Rights 2015 Annexure 1

praskrishna — 2016-12-09T02:37:33Z

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/files/ranking-digital-rights-2015-annexure-1.pdf

India's Tech Policy Entrepreneurs

praskrishna — 2016-12-08T16:52:23Z

The people who influence India's evolving technology policy.

The blog post by Rohin Dharmakumar was published by The KEN on December 8, 2016.

Though CIS has lost much of its cachet with the government for a while now (due to what sources term its “antagonistic” submissions to the government on various issues and because of it leaking CERT notifications around blocked websites), Abraham is still seen as a resourceful, agile and passionate leader of a civil society body that manages to track and keep on top of various tech policy moves.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/indias-tech-policy-entrepreneurs

Industry Consultation Panel on Data Retention - DSCI

praskrishna — 2016-12-06T15:55:14Z

Udbhav Tiwari was a panelist for an Industry Consultation Panel on Data Retention organised by the Data Security Council of India (DSCI) at the Le Meridian, New Delhi on 23 November 2016.

The agenda for the Panel was ‘Data Retention – Provisions under 67C’ and Udbhav's co-panellists were:

Gowree Gokhale, Nishith Desai and Associates
Srinivas Poosarla, Vice President and Head (Global), Privacy & Data Protection, Infosys
Chandra Ballabh, Security & Continuity Group, Bharti Airtel

The Panel was moderated by Bishakha Bhattacharya, Senior Director, NASSCOM.

The panel was fairly interesting and I largely espoused an outlook based on the principles of Transparency, Accountability, Proportionality and Due Process for any regulation that does come out in the near future regarding data retention, with a particular focus on balancing the interests of the key stakeholders. (Government, Industry & the Public)

The feedback to our position on the panel was decent to good, with Microsoft, Intel-McAfee, Samsung and SAP reaching out and agreeing to our broader stand and some of them looking forward to collaborating on us on future work on the topic as well.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/industry-consultation-panel-on-data-retention-dsci

10th NLSIR Symposium - Regulating E-Commerce in India

praskrishna — 2016-12-06T15:48:25Z

Vidushi Marda participated in a panel at the "10th NLSIR Symposium on Regulating E-Commerce in India" at NSLIU on November 27, 2016 in Bengaluru.

The topic for my session was "Liability Regimes - Ensuring Compliance". I spoke about the various kinds of E-Commerce businesses to consider (from aggregators to platforms to the sharing economy) and focussed on issues surrounding intermediary liability and data protection. The panelists were:

Pranav Mehra, Snapdeal
Vidushi Marda, Centre for Internet Society
Arun Prabhu, Partner, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas
Arun Binoy Mattamana, Hewlett Packard Enterprise
Aditya Mudgal, Hindustan Unilever Ltd

Click to see more info

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/10th-nlsir-symposium-regulating-e-commerce-in-india

NLSR Symposium on Regulating E-Commerce in India

praskrishna — 2016-12-06T15:42:54Z

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/files/nlsr-symposium-on-regulating-e-commerce-in-india

Your digital wallet can be a ‘pickpocket’

praskrishna — 2016-12-05T01:44:29Z

If you have installed a wallet app on your smartphone, be careful. Many such apps can access data, even sensitive personal information, and have features that do more than just make payments. All that, with your due “permission”.

The article by Samarth Bansal was published in the Hindu on December 5, 2016. Pranesh Prakash was quoted.

When installing them, the apps display a list of permissions. The user is prompted to either grant permission to access to SMSs, call records and so on or decline, but the latter means rejecting the download. Barring a small fraction of tech-savvy users, most go with the flow, ignoring the permissions section.

The Hindu reviewed permissions sought by five wallet applications: MobiKwik, Freecharge, PayTM, Jio Money and Airtel Money.

Freecharge and Jio Money seek permission to “directly call phone numbers”. The app can call up numbers without notifying you. In fact, Freecharge asks to “read call log”. All five require permission to “read contacts”, which, as PayTM mentions, “gives you the ability to pick a number from contacts for a quick recharge or bill payment” or “helps you send and request money from friends”. FreeCharge and PayTM ask permission to “modify contacts” and “record audio”.

PayTM is the only one that requests to “read your web bookmarks and history”. According to AndroidPit, an Android-centred news portal, this permission is needed for alternative browsers, back-up tools and possibly some social networking apps. For the rest, it is possibly a way to “spy on user’s browsing behaviour”, the portal says.
Wealth of data

Pranesh Prakash, policy director at the Centre for Internet and Society, told The Hindu that access to a wealth of data about the user enables various other business models.

“A mobile wallet application, using location tracking data, can tell a user about the discounts available on a nearby store if the payment is conducted using that platform. If the user is not explicitly made aware of such usage of data, I would call it a misuse of information,” he said. Note that “precise” location tracking feature, via GPS or mobile network, is a feature requested by all.

For PayTM, there is a mismatch between the complete set of permissions it asks for — as stated in the app store — and the ones it mentions on a dedicated page on its website explaining “PayTM app permissions”. Apart from the six basic features, there is no mention about functions like location tracking or reading web history — which it requires — on the web page.

“In this regard, PhonePe [another wallet app] is the model to follow: it clearly states the permissions it is seeking and explains why it needs each one of those at the time of set-up.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/hindu-samarth-bansal-december-5-2016-your-digital-wallet-can-be-a-pickpocket

No laws in India to protect customers if they lose money during digital transactions

praskrishna — 2016-12-02T17:07:02Z

The lack of basic privacy and security laws pertaining to digital payments in India puts the onus on consumers who use such services.

The article by Alnoor Peermohamed was published by Business Standard on December 2, 2016. Sunil Abraham was quoted.

India lacks laws to protect consumers if they lose money during digital transactions even as the government pushes for a less-cash economy after it withdrew Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes as the legal tender.

The Modi government's demonetisation move might have warranted an increase in transaction activity on digital wallets, but measures to ensure the underlying cyber security parameters for digital payments is still kept largely under the ambit of the Information Technology Act.

"We don't have any dedicated law on digital payments. That's very important to grant complete legality and remove and doubts and clarifications pertaining to legal efficacies and legal validity of digital payments," says Pavan Duggal, an advocate in the Supreme Court specialising in cyber law.

While the Reserve Bank of India usually sets security and privacy standards for banks in the country, the various digital wallets such as Paytm, Freecharge and Mobikwik fall under the category of Non-banking Financial Corporations (NBFCs) excluding them from this. For FinTech companies, security compliance falls under just Section 43 A of the IT Act.

Today, transactions between a user and a mobile wallet service provider are merely contractual agreements which can always be repudiated. There's a heightened need to legally back digital payments in India, not only to ensure the safety of consumer money but also for the safety of these companies.

Since the demonetisation on November 8, digital wallet firms such as Paytm have seen 35 million transactions by users to either buy goods and services, or transfer funds to another account. Rival Freecharge has tied up with police forces of Mumbai to pay traffic fines using its platform.

Research by Bengaluru-based think tank Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) shows that some of India's largest technology companies still do not comply with Section 43 A.

"We have a minimal data protection law in our IT Act and that will apply to all the FinTech players. But our ISPs and Telcos don't comply with Section 43 A, so you can imagine in the FinTech sector the compliance will be even lower," says Sunil Abraham, Executive Director at CI

The lack of basic privacy and security laws pertaining to digital payments in India puts the onus on consumers who use such services. While the issue is not being completely ignored by the authorities, some of the proposed workarounds such as creating a virtual sandbox around digital payment services raised questions.

The RBI limits the maximum balance on digital wallets to Rs 10,000 per user, ensuring that in the case of a breach the damage caused to a consumer is minimal but on November 23, the banking regulator increased the limit to Rs 20,000 .

Just last week India's largest digital wallet provider Paytm rolled out the option for customers to increase their wallet balance to a maximum of Rs 100,000 by getting a KYC check done.

"There are no legal mechanisms available should there be disputes pertaining to digital payments,"aid Duggal. He added that there are no effective remedy mechanisms available in case money in the digital payment ecosystem gets lost, hacked, stolen or misused.

While laws might take years to be framed and implemented, Abraham says there are temporary workarounds with which the overall cyber security of digital payment services can be improved. Under Section 43 A there are provisions to allow a sector to form a consortium that mutually agrees to set security standards, which all players must follow and is valid in the court of law during dispute resolution.

This move is encouraged by experts as governments often lack the bandwidth to define sectoral specific laws but is where private sector expertise can go a long way.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/business-standard-december-2-2016-alnoor-peermohammed-no-laws-in-india-to-protect-customers-if-they-lose-money-during-digital-transactions

Lack of clarity about cashless and online transactions makes digital payments more worrisome

praskrishna — 2016-12-02T16:20:39Z

Even as demonetisation pushes for more and more cashless and online transactions through, e-wallets, banks and other such apps, there is a serious lack of clarity on how these companies handle customer data, and how it is shared with other entities. "Data is the new oil," is an oft repeated phrase in nearly every technology related conversation that comes up anywhere in India today.

The article by Neha Alawadhi was published in the Economic Times on December 1, 2016. Sunil Abraham was quoted.

However, the handling of this data, most of which carries some of our most personal information, has little protection if it is misused by a private or government entity.

Sample this: at an industry event, a Bengaluru-based startup claimed to solve the problem of credit worthiness of individuals for small loans by using some unusual means. To determine credit worthiness, the company maps everything in your phone — right from how many SMSes you receive for non-payment of dues, to how you fill out your loan application form. The company also claims that it can map, using your phone data, the area of your residence and office.

There are several other companies, especially those in the financial technology (fintech) space, doing similar mapping. The Wall Street Journal on Monday reported that more than three dozen local governments across China are compiling digital records of social and financial behaviour to rate credit worthiness. A person gets a score deduction for violations such as fare cheating, jaywalking and violating family-planning rules.

India may be some distance away from such a credit scoring system, but the increased use of online transactions — financial or otherwise — is sure to lead to similar business models.

"You have no clue what data you are sharing with fintech companies. They are collecting data from other sources and combining it to assess your credit score," said Sunil Abraham, executive director of the Centre for Internet Society.

For example, there is no clarity on what an e-wallet company does with your details and transaction history even after you delete the app. "If there is large level of customer migration of users from an app company, they will just become a data analytics company. The bigger danger in future is the growth of large data intermediaries which are similar to Visa and Mastercard networks, which purchase big databases and further sell this data and build their services or product on top of that. There are large privacy concerns there," said Apar Gupta, advocate and Internet policy expert. While lack of a privacy law or controller has been a long standing concern, the existing law for data protection — Section 43(A) of the Information Technology Act— also offers only very basic protection and is "grossly inadequate", according to Abraham.

To make matters worse, they also lack a strict enforcement mechanism. "We don’t know what are the data practices (adopted by apps). There is no privacy controller or some other body, so it is very difficult for a user to know what are the actual ways their data is being implemented," said Gupta.

There have also been cases of government entities making sensitive and personal information public. Earlier this year, DataMeet, a community of data science enthusiasts, found that Bengaluru Police released 13,000 call data records (CDR) of potential on-going investigations during a hackathon with focus on solving problems of cities.

"There has been very little talk about data ethics and data practices in India. But cases of misuse of data are frequent," noted DataMeet member Srinivas Kodali in a blogpost.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/economic-times-december-1-2016-neha-alawadhi-lack-of-clarity-about-cashless-and-online-transactions-makes-digital-payments-more-worrisome

A world apart

praskrishna — 2016-12-01T15:24:12Z

On the eve of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, we look at their legal rights relating to financial matters.

The article by Meera Siva was published in the Hindu Businessline on November 27, 2016.

Be it the right to education, rights in the work place, legal entitlements or fair compensation, people with disabilities are often left holding the short end of the stick. Sometimes, there are no specific rules or policies as in the case of providing insurance coverage. But more often, even though guidelines are laid out, they remain only in theory.

Take the case of Nagarjuna Akula, a Chartered Accountant working in a public sector company in Maharashtra. “I applied for a home loan in 2014 and it was approved. They wanted me to take a standard insurance with a one-time premium of about ₹38,000. But it was rejected by SBI Life Insurance. I did not protest this issue, but often think about the repercussions to the family in the long term, in case of an eventuality,” he says.

Akula also had to battle to get special conveyance allowance given to disabled people. “I have been working here for nearly four years but was not given the higher rate of conveyance allowance. The reason given was that I do not require physical assistance,” he says. The issue is finally sorted out now, but he lost the allowance for earlier periods.

Akula says that in some cases rules may need to be changed to accommodate persons with disabilities. “The CA Institute exempts members with disabilities from meeting continuing education credit requirements. But I wish the ICWA Institute would also consider the issue, as classes may be held in higher floors without lift facility in some places,” he says. He notes, happily, that the Institute heeded his request to give additional time during exams for persons with disability.

Compensation, an uphill battle

Fighting cases in courts, not easy for anyone, is particularly daunting for those with disabilities. And often, due to lack of rules, they end up having to fight long legal battles to get any form of compensation to cover their huge medical expenses. Ketna Mehta, Management editor, educationalist and Founder Trustee of Nina Foundation, Mumbai, gives many examples. “Many spinal injuries happen due to accidents. One young person we helped was having food after college at a small eatery under a tree. The tree branch broke and hit his head and he suffered spinal cord injury. There is no way for the victim to get any payment from the Brihanmumbai Metropolitan Corporation for the surgery and rehabilitation,” she laments.

Likewise with Martin Tharail, a 25-year old from Kerala who worked at a BPO in Mumbai. He met with a bike accident and become a quadriplegic; his parents were retired and the family was unable to get the ₹15-20 lakh compensation from the truck owner. “The case is still pending, though he is no more,” says Mehta. She also narrates the woes of a 26-year old paraplegic girl who lost her parents and lives with her younger brother who is in college. She is fighting a court battle to inherit her parent’s property. “She goes to the court for the hearings with support from our volunteers. There are no proper wash-rooms for the disabled and it costs money to make travel arrangements, get a helper to be with her in the court,” says Mehta.

Triple whammy

The state of women with disability needs special attention as they suffer from discrimination due to three reasons — gender, disability and poverty. Abha Khetarpal, President, Cross the Hurdles, a non-profit that works for rights of persons with disabilities, notes that most Indians consider disability as “karma of past life.” She says that women with disabilities need provisions with regard

to their rights over their own bodies. “They are at much greater risk of violence, often by their caregivers; provisions are needed to ensure ways to seek redressal without fear,” she says.

“Sometimes women are cheated in marriages — an already married man marries a woman with disability. He abandons her due to fear of punishment for bigamy and adultery when the truth comes to light,” she explains. Since the second marriage is considered null and void by law, the woman is left all alone and faces society’s stigma; she has to survive without much support. Khetarpal suggests that the law should consider the whole scenario before giving any judgement.

Mehta notes that persons with disabilities, mainly women, are divorced after an accident that leads to a permanent disability. “The reason is not stated explicitly and the disabled person often accepts the fate without fighting. The sad part is that they are not given fair financial compensation, given the extra expenses they have to incur throughout their life,” she notes.

Need changes

Initiatives such as the “Accessible India” campaign do not deliver impactful results. The “Persons with Disability Act” of 1995 does not have punitive measures if there is failure in compliance. The National Trust Act of 1999 and The Mental Health Act of 1987 have not been able to bring about meaningful sensitisation. A new Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill has been pending for many years now.

A study conducted by the Centre for Internet and Society (CIS), a Bengaluru based non-profit think tank, found that 97 per cent of over 5,800 government websites tested have at least one known accessibility issue and can be said to be inaccessible. Government schemes, even when they exist, are for name-sake only, says Mehta. “The government provides a disability pension of ₹800 per month, which is not given in a timely way. In Mumbai, what can you cover with this amount?” she asks.

Mehta suggests that there must be a separate department to handle all aspects — education, scholarship, loans, insurance and availing benefits — rather than having to run helter-skelter to many departments. “There must be one agency and one file for a person with disability,” she insists. Also, the disabled are not aware of what they are entitled to. “Why not give information in a simple format when someone gets a disability certificate?” she suggests.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/news/hindu-businessline-november-27-2016-meera-siva-a-world-apart

Guru Gomke is a Stylish Ol Chiki Typeface for India’s Santali Speakers

praskrishna — 2016-12-01T14:56:41Z

The blog post was published by AIGA.org on November 29, 2016. Subhashish Panigrahi was consulted.

Back story: Ever met a teenaged girl yearning to be a typeface designer? Yes? Then perhaps you know Pooja Saxena, who recognized her life’s calling when she was still in high school. Saxena went on to study with type historian and designer Fiona Ross at the University of Reading in the UK.

The idea for Guru Gomke came from a chat she had with Panigrahi, whose work with the Access to Knowledge (A2K) Program at the Centre for Internet and Society in Bangalore underscored the lack of tools and resources available for India’s minority languages online. For example, Ol Chiki is the alphabet needed to write the language Santali, used by over 5 million people in India and its neighboring countries. “At the time of our conversation, we couldn’t find a single Unicode-compliant font in the script—forget a typeface family with a bold or an italic. [Noto Sans Ol Chiki, in regular and bold, has since been released]. Subhashish mentioned all these minority scripts in India that people can’t use because fonts and keyboards for them don’t exist,” Saxena says. “I was enthusiastic to help create a free open-source typeface family and input methods in Ol Chiki, and thanks to Subhashish’s work with A2K, he was able to make it happen.”

Why’s it called Guru Gomke? Guru Gomke is a title of respect for Pandit Raghunath Murmu, creator of the Ol Chiki script in the early 20th century. The name translates to “great teacher.” It was recommended to Panigrahi by one of the language experts consulted by the designers, and they found it a wonderful nod to the history of the script.

What are its distinguishing characteristics? Its very existence, frankly. It’s now one of just two Unicode-compliant fonts with both bold and italic character sets.

What should I use it for? Next time you need to set absolutely anything in Ol Chiki.

What other typefaces do you like to pair it with? Matched to Source Sans Pro visually and proportionally, these two fonts are visually harmonic used anywhere Ol Chiki and Latin texts have to work together. In fact, the Latin glyphs included in Guru Gomke are derived from Source Sans Pro.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/news/eye-on-design-aiga-guru-gomke-is-stylish

No country for the disabled

praskrishna — 2016-12-01T14:29:30Z

A 26-year-old electrical engineer is forced to hide his disability, for fear of losing his job. His current employer is unaware that he uses an artificial limb.

The article was published in New Indian Express on December 1, 2016. Nirmita Narasimhan was quoted.

‘I hide my disability to keep my job’

Sameer (name changed) had applied for a job in a well-known company about four months ago. He had informed the HR of the company that he had lost his left leg, in a road accident, and wears an artificial limb. The company did not have a problem with it, at least not until they sent him an offer letter with a joining date.

“I was called for interviews and they selected me for the job,” he says. “I got the offer letter with a joining date and resigned from my previous company after getting the letter. But when the doctor gave my medical certificate for company insurance, they changed their mind. The certificate mentioned that I am physically fit and capable of doing the job but added that I wear an artificial limb. After that, they simply refused to proceed with the offer.”

He also received a written explanation that he is not being considered for the job because he uses an artificial limb. “I have five years of experience. When I contacted them again saying that they cannot deny the job after offering me the letter, they said they have ‘sympathy’ for me. When I insisted that the job will be great for my career, they said they will get back to me in two to three days but I didn’t hear from them again,” he says.

Sameer had to request his previous company to ignore his resignation letter and keep him. Fortunately, they agreed. He adds, “I kept looking for better job opportunities. I even thought of starting a business of my own but did not have enough funds. I am the only earning member in my family. My father passed away sometime ago. My mother and two younger brothers are dependent on me.”

Except for a few of his seniors, no one in his current organisation knows of his disability. He says, “Only a few seniors know because I told them about it. It is not easy to make out that I am using an artificial limb. I can walk fine, do all the chores like an able person. Even when someone comes asking what’s wrong with my leg as I limp a little, I tell them that I had an injury.”

Sameer has completed B Tech and did a diploma in electrical engineering. He adds, “None of my friends whom I lived with, during my graduation and diploma course, know that I use an artificial limb. Until I detach the limb in front of someone, no one gets to know.”

He lost his left leg in an accident when he was three. He says, “I can walk on any terrain, ride bikes and also play badminton for two to three hours without any problem. I am on no medication or therapy. I tried to convince the employers saying all this, but it came to naught.”

Provisions for disabled in law
The Persons with Disability Act 1995 states that the appropriate governments and local authorities shall by notification formulate schemes for ensuring employment of persons with disabilities, and such schemes may provide for the training and welfare of persons with disabilities; the relaxation of upper age limit; regulating the employment; health and safety measures and creation of a non-handicapping environment in places where persons with disabilities are employed; the manner in which and the person by whom the cost of operating the schemes is to be defrayed; and constituting the authority responsible for the administration of the scheme.

Inclusive workplace
The non-discrimination chapter of the Act also states that no promotion shall be denied to a person merely on the grounds of his disability.

Disabled kid? No admission

Mita Sarkar, a mother of a six-year-old girl who has cerebral palsy (CP) had to approach around ten private schools for her daughter’s admission. She heard the same response from every school she approached: “Education is for all and we accept all children, but we are not equipped to school your child”.

Mita says, “When Monali was seven months old, she had a traumatic brain injury. She lost more than half of her brain cells. Now her condition is similar to kids with cerebral palsy.” She has right side hemiparesis - a weakness in the right side of the body. She has difficulties with motor coordination, walking, speech and attention span.

“But according to her doctors, psychologist and therapists, her intelligence level is good and she can continue a regular school curriculum with some facilitation and acceptance from the schools, teachers and peers,” says the mother.

With her tireless pursuit to seek admission for her daughter, Mita finally struck gold with a private school. Monali is currently in LKG.

Inclusive Education
Though the Persons with Disabilities (PWD) Act 1995 and Right to Education states that children with disabilities have equal rights to education and can be admitted in a normal schools, many schools seem to make an excuse that they do not have enough manpower and resources for admitting children with special needs.

The PWD Act recognises CP as a disability.
The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan, a programme started by the government for universalisation of elementary education also states that equity, to mean not only equal opportunity, but also creation of conditions in which the disadvantaged sections of the society - children of SC, ST, Muslim minority, landless agricultural workers and children with special needs, etc. - can avail of the opportunity. Access, not to be confined to ensuring that a school becomes accessible to all children within specified distance but implies an understanding of the educational needs and predicament of the traditionally excluded categories - the SC, ST and others sections of the most disadvantaged groups, the Muslim minority, girls in general, and children with special needs.

Nirmita Narasimhan, Policy Director of the Disability Access vertical of Centre for Internet and Society (CIS), says, “Inclusive education is a good model, provided there are good staffs and resources available. The staff should get equal pay as that of other teachers. It is a good method to sensitise normal children about the disability issue as well.”

Separate Wing for Disabled Children
Advocate C V Sudhindra believes the Act that allows inclusive education may not be a practical proposition. He explains, “Children with disability will find it difficult to adjust in a classroom with abled children. It could be demoralising for them. They would mingle with abled children and understand what skills they are deprived of. It is a burden on the institution to have facilities for special children. The needs for every disability vary. You need have not just a trained teacher but also other facilities like toilets. It affects the normal functioning of a school.”

He adds a separate school is ideal for them. He cites an example, “You cannot accommodate people with disabilities in the Olympic competition. That is why we have Paralympic competition. The Act should be in tune with reality and should not affect the regular affairs of the people.”

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/news/new-indian-express-december-1-2016-no-country-for-disabled

The Technology Behind Big Data

praskrishna — 2016-12-02T01:23:26Z

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/files/technology-behind-big-data.pdf

BIS on Smart Cities Indicators

praskrishna — 2016-11-30T15:56:58Z

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/files/bis-on-smart-cities-indicators.pdf

Popular apps are inaccessible to millions of disabled: Study

praskrishna — 2016-11-30T15:52:13Z

According to a study conducted by Centre for Internet and Society last month, many of the most-commonly used mobile apps for food delivery, online payments, grocery shopping and transportation were not accessible to the visually challenged.

The article by Arpita Raj was published by the Times of India on November 21, 2016 and also mirrored in ET Brand Equity.

Booking cabs, buying food and making payments online seem like they're just a swipe and a tap away, but for millions of disabled Indians, these apps are not designed for them to use.

The 2011 census puts the number of disabled in the country at 26 million, while advocacy groups say the real figure is closer to 150 million.Last year, India recorded nearly nine billion downloads of mobile-based applications last year.

“The national policy for universal electronic accessibility says that all IT products and services should be accessible. However, the government is still unable to implement it. Several government apps are inaccessible,“ said Nirmita Narasimhan, policy director at CIS. CIS's survey of some key government mobile based applications like My Gov, E Pathshala and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's official app found them to be severely lacking. The illiterate, aged and those not proficient in English would also struggle with the apps, the study found. The guidelines for government websites laid out accessibility standards in 2009. The 2013 national policy on universal electronic accessibility clearly upholds equal rights “ensuring that accessibility standards and guidelines and universal design concepts are adopted and adhered to.“

However, most commonly-used apps fail to follow this. All 22 of the apps studied were privately owned but not all were fully compliant with universal standards. Of taxi-hailing apps Meru, Ola and Uber, only Uber was completely accessible to the disabled. The others had mis-labelled or unlabeled buttons and graphics.

When it came to food delivery, Zomato was the best at replicating the user experience for disabled people. Swiggy and Foodpanda were difficult for new users, and Fresh menu was completely inaccessible.

Of the marketplace apps, Amazon and Snapdeal were the only accessible ones. Myntra and Flipkart had incorrectly labelled buttons and misleading graphic tags, which made them impossible for the disabled to use. For instance, customers would be able to select the product they wanted to buy but had no way of choosing the quantity, the study said. Online grocery delivery apps Grofers and Zop Now were hard for the disabled to use, while Big Basket was relatively better though pages change during orders. Online payment portals Paytm, Oxigen and FreeCharge were relatively accessible, the study found.

“Designers, developers and industries need to realize that there are more people out there who use this technology .The market is much bigger and they should work towards being inclusive,“ said Narasimhan of CIS.

Albinder Dhinda, co founder of grocery delivery service Grofers, said their app meets all accessibility requirements. “However, the disability tools provided by Google Play Store or the App Store often don't benefit the user and are hard for them to use. We are trying to make it better. Things like online payments won't be accessible to the disabled as those apps are supported by third party sites, and don't fall within our settings. We're trying to make it better.We're three years behind the US, in the playground they made. It'll be a while before we reach their level,“ he said.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/news/economic-times-arpita-raj-november-21-2016-popular-apps-are-inaccessible-to-millions-of-disabled