'Fix accessibility for disabled persons or pack up': Delhi HC warns Rapido

An internal audit found 170 accessibility errors in the Rapido app, prompting the Delhi High Court to warn that the company must fix these issues or shut down its operations in India

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The Delhi High Court has reprimanded app-based transport aggregator Rapido, directing the company to enhance accessibility for disabled persons within four months or "pack up".

 

An internal audit identified 170 accessibility errors in the Rapido app. The court warned that unless these issues are resolved, Rapido should cease its operations in India.  

 

The court also questioned how the app was permitted to function despite not complying with legal accessibility requirements. The joint secretary of the Road and Transport Ministry has been asked to provide an explanation and must appear at the next hearing to outline the steps being taken to ensure transport apps meet accessibility standards before their launch.  

 

This directive came in response to a petition filed by two visually impaired individuals.  

 

Advocate Rahul Bajaj, representing the petitioners, told NDTV that Rapido submitted a summary of an accessibility audit report, which they claimed to have received the previous night.  

 

"That report showed that there are 170 accessibility errors in the platform at the base level of WCAG level A. It also showed 81 major failures in the accessibility of the app, and this is as per their own audit. Quite apart from the concerns that we got from disabled users which we were also carrying," Bajaj said, as quoted by the report.

 

Rapido defended itself by arguing that it is a small startup in India and lacks the necessary funds for these improvements. However, the court rejected this justification.

 

Rapido’s financial overview  

 

In August last year, Rapido entered the unicorn club after securing $120 million in funding from existing investor WestBridge Capital.  

 

Rapido was established in 2015 by Aravind Sanka, Pavan Guntupalli, and Rishikesh SR. Initially focused on auto and bike taxi services, the company later expanded into cab aggregation. In April 2022, Rapido secured $180 million in a Series D funding round led by Swiggy, with participation from TVS Motor Company, Westbridge, Shell Ventures, and Nexus Ventures.  

 

Rapido became the third startup to achieve unicorn status last year, following Perfios and Krutrim AI, founded by Ola’s Bhavish Aggarwal. In contrast, 2023 saw only two new unicorns — Zepto and InCred Wealth.