Manufacturing mobile phones for PwDs to be made mandatory

The government will soon make it mandatory for mobile phone-makers that manufacture minimum five models to produce at least one handset which addresses needs of persons with disabilities, Telecom Secretary Anshu Prakash said on Thursday.

"All mobile manufacturers who produce five or more mobile handsets shall be mandated to provide at least one model satisfying need of person with disabilities (PwDs). DoT will create and maintain a database of devices and ancillary equipment," Prakash said.

The decision was taken at Digital Communications Commission (DCC) meeting held on Thursday.

"We will be roping in MEITY (Ministry of Electronics and IT, BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards) and other organisation for this purpose. The DoT has recognised formally need for a special effort for a person with disabilities in so far as ICT (Information and Communications Technology) devices are concerned," Prakash said.

The Department of Telecom (DoT) has adopted the measures identified by International Telecommunications Union in this regard.

According to 2011 population census, India had over 21 crore people with different kind of disabilities.

This will be applicable for all the 21 types of disabilities which have been identified under rights of PWD.

"We approved that all TSPs (telecom service providers) shall be required to identify customers with PWDs to provide special benefits. This will be under the customer acquisition form. It (disclosure) will be voluntary," Prakash said.