June 6, 2019
Over 70 million Indians have a disability, making a compelling case
for financial inclusion to be built in, in every aspect of our lives.
Compelling from the point of social justice as well as business sense. Yet,
this doesn’t get reflected. A huge gap that needs to be addressed, as a
Reserve Bank of India’s high-level committee emphasies.
Cast a look at most events and conferences on disability in India and all too
often it’s the aspects of education, employment, health and technologies
that get talked about. Few talk about financial inclusion, which is an
oversight given that at 70 million people, India’s disabled community are a
sizeable presence.
The oversight is not for the lack of a noise. Be it banking services or
digital payments, the access hitches have been raised time and again by the
community. Now, for the first time there’s a reason to hope that something
will be done about it.
A Reserve Bank of India appointed high-level committee on
digital payments led by Nandan Nilekani has made a note of
the various gaps and has come up with specific recommendations to address
them in a permanent manner.
The report says there are “well established methods of building digital
products, that would ensure that individuals, who otherwise have a
disability, are able to lead an independent life, with dignity”.
Furthermore, it sends a reminder that Section 40 of the
Rights of Persons With Disabilities Act, 2016 mandates that
public facilities and services be made accessible in line with the standards
notified by the Central Government. “In accordance with the Rules, the
obligation to ensure compliance with the standards notified under the Rules
vests with the domain regulator i.e. RBI in this case. Accordingly, all
system providers must ensure that the payment systems operated by them are
complying with the accessibility standards notified by the RBI under the
Rules”.
The report also outlines specific recommendations to enable
this, including,
Mumbai-based lawyer financial lawyer Amar Jain, who is a vocal advocate for
financial inclusion, says that this is the first report that addresses the
needs of people with disabilities in such specific details. Jain, who is a
visually impaired person, was among a group of people to meet with the
committee to make a presentation outlining the needs of people with
disabilities.
When the RBI talks of financial inclusion and you look at the reports of
its various committees, people with disabilities are often left behind.
None of the reports I have seen until now have talked about including us in
any aspects. They talk of rurally disadvantaged people, or people from
economically backward backgrounds. The fact they have given us importance
and heard us out patiently is important. – Amar Jain, Financial
lawyer
Jain is also happy with the focus put on giving a systematic solution to ways
to ensure compliance. “This makes organisations automatically aware that
this is something they need to work on and that’s significant”.
Such a high-level committee taking note of the difficulties faced by people
with disabilities in accessing financial services is being regarded with
hope. Chandana Chandrashekhar, a visually impaired person
working with a top financial accounting firm in Bengaluru, hopes this will
pave the way for financial independence for the community.
“Most visually impaired people use various technologies in their day to day
life activities and considering financial Independence is important for any
individual. Visually impaired people find it challenging to access certain
websites due to Captcha and other technical issues so it would be helpful if
guidelines are imposed to make these websites accessible and to ensure the
safety of online transactions”.
How this will be implemented on the ground is something Delhi-based banker
Aparna Murthy is keen to know. “It is a welcome move but
what is most important is the way it would be implemented on the ground
level. What will also be crucial is sensitising the staff to the various
challenges faced by people with disabilities”.
Source: https://newzhook.com/story/22463
