the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has issued draft Rights of Persons with Disabilities (Amendment) Rules on Non-Negotiable Accessibility Standards in Buildings and Built Environment, 2025 (“Draft Amendment Rules”) to amend Rule 15 (Rules for Accessibility) of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Rules, 2017 (“Principal Rules”). It proposes to insert Rule 15 (1)(aa) namely ‘‘Non-negotiable Accessibility Standards for Building and Built Environment” in the Principal Rules.
Comments or suggestions may be sent via email to aic-depwd@gov.in by 20th June, 2025.
Applicability:
- All structures and public buildings covered within the scope of Section 44 and 45 of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016.
- Buildings and structures providing public facilities and services covered within the scope of Section 46 of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, including all temporary structures and areas within a group housing whether built/operated by a government or a private establishment, to the extent they are covered within the definition of “public building” and any building used for providing public facilities and services, as defined under “public facilities and services” in Section 2 (w) and (x) respectively, of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016.
- All buildings and built environment owned or controlled by establishments within the Central Government, the state governments, the local bodies as well as private establishments.
- It includes public Building and Built Environments, whether owned, on rent or lease basis, for which-
- the certificate of completion has not yet been issued, or
- the certificate of completion has been issued but has not yet been occupied/whether or not the Occupation Certificate for the same is issued.
Key Highlights:
- Dissemination of accessibility information- The owners, regulators, operators or users of all public buildings and built environment will be required to provide clear information about accessibility of the space at each stage through their website as well as physically on the site.
- Compliance with accessibility standards- Establishments having the control of a public building or built environment whether owned, on rent or lease basis, will be required to provide for a clear structure of accountability for compliance with the non-negotiable accessibility standards as stipulated in the Schedule appended to the draft amendment rules. This will enable appropriate governments to enforce the statutory consequences within 3 months of the notification of these draft amendment rules.
A copy of the notification has been linked below for ease of reference.
Source: Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities
