On April 30, 2025, India’s Supreme Court ruled that the right to digital access is an intrinsic component of the right to life and personal liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution.
That single ruling changed the legal landscape for India digital accessibility overnight.
Within three months, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) issued a mandatory circular requiring all regulated entities to make their digital platforms accessible. The Reserve Bank of India followed with similar guidance. Government websites were already under mandate. And the deadlines for compliance are either already passed or closing fast in 2026.
If your organization operates in India, serves Indian users, or sells to Indian government entities, this guide covers everything you need to know.
Key Takeaways
- On April 30, 2025, India’s Supreme Court ruled that digital access is a fundamental right under Article 21, creating an enforceable basis for accessibility mandates across sectors.
- SEBI issued a mandatory digital accessibility circular in July 2025. All regulated financial entities must complete third-party accessibility audits by April 30, 2026, and remediate findings by July 31, 2026.
- IS 17802 is India’s national web accessibility standard, aligned with WCAG 2.1 Level AA and published by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). It applies to government, PSUs, banks, and regulated sectors.
- GIGW 3.0 is mandatory for all Indian government websites. It includes 88 mandatory checkpoints across accessibility, quality, cybersecurity, and lifecycle management. Certification is done by STQC under MeitY.
- WCAG 2.1 Level AA is the technical baseline for all Indian accessibility compliance. Auditors in 2026 are expecting WCAG 2.2 alignment in practice.
- Non-compliance with the RPwD Act can result in penalties under Section 89, including fines and imprisonment for repeat violations.
India’s Accessibility Legal Framework at a Glance
India’s India digital accessibility framework is built on four interconnected pillars. Each applies to a different sector, but all of them reference the same underlying technical standard: WCAG 2.1 Level AA, adopted in India as IS 17802.
The four pillars are:
- The RPwD Act 2016 (Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act) is the foundational legislation. It establishes the legal right of persons with disabilities to equal access to digital services and infrastructure, and it imposes enforceable obligations on government entities and private organizations.
- IS 17802 is the technical standard published by the Bureau of Indian Standards. It is India’s formal adoption of WCAG 2.1, with India-specific implementation guidance. Meeting IS 17802 means meeting WCAG 2.1 Level AA in the Indian national standards context.
- GIGW 3.0 (Guidelines for Indian Government Websites and Apps, version 3.0) is the operational standard for all central and state government websites and apps. Published by MeitY and NIC, it mandates WCAG 2.1 AA as the accessibility floor and adds 88 mandatory checkpoints covering quality, security, and governance.
- SEBI’s digital accessibility circulars extend these requirements to the regulated financial sector — all stock exchanges, brokers, mutual funds, portfolio managers, depositories, insurance companies, and fintechs operating under SEBI oversight.
Together, these four frameworks cover government at every level, public sector undertakings, the financial sector, healthcare platforms, and increasingly the private sector. The Supreme Court’s April 2025 ruling makes it clear that this coverage will only expand.
The RPwD Act 2016: The Legal Foundation
The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 is the primary legislation that makes accessibility a legal obligation in India. It replaced the earlier Persons with Disabilities Act of 1995 and brought India’s disability law in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), which India ratified in 2007.
Section 42 of the RPwD Act specifically addresses access to information and communication technology. It requires the government to ensure that all digital infrastructure, content, and services are accessible to persons with disabilities. The rules under the Act reference IS 17802 as the technical standard.
Section 89 establishes penalties for non-compliance. A first contravention can result in a fine of up to Rs 10,000. Subsequent violations can result in fines of up to Rs 50,000 and in more serious cases, imprisonment of up to six months. For government officials, continued non-compliance after a court order creates additional liability.
The Supreme Court’s April 2025 judgment elevated this further. By ruling that digital access is part of the right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution, the Court made inaccessible digital services not just a statutory violation but a constitutional one. This creates the legal foundation for challenges against any organization providing inaccessible digital services to Indian users.
According to DigitalA11Y’s overview of India’s digital accessibility laws, the RPwD Act framework, combined with the Supreme Court ruling, now creates enforceable obligations across government, financial services, healthcare, education, and telecommunications.
IS 17802: India’s National Accessibility Standard
IS 17802 is the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) standard for accessibility requirements for information and communication technology (ICT) products and services. It is India’s formal national standard for web and digital accessibility.
IS 17802 is aligned with WCAG 2.1. Meeting IS 17802 conformance means demonstrating WCAG 2.1 Level AA compliance in the Indian national standards context. The standard is structured in two parts: Part 1 covers requirements across the four WCAG principles (perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust), and Part 2 covers conformance and evaluation methodology.
According to Accord Compliance’s guide to IS 17802, the standard goes beyond simply adopting WCAG wholesale. It adds India-specific technical implementation guidance, addresses multilingual accessibility for Indian languages, and provides conformance evaluation methods suited to the Indian regulatory and procurement context.
In practice, IS 17802 applies to:
- Government websites and digital services at central and state levels. All government digital platforms are expected to conform to IS 17802 as the national standard referenced by the RPwD Act.
- Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs). Banks, insurance companies, and other PSUs are subject to the same standards as government entities.
- Regulated private sector entities. Under SEBI and RBI guidance, the regulated financial sector must now meet IS 17802. The June 2025 SEBI circular explicitly references IS 17802 alongside WCAG 2.1 and GIGW as the technical benchmarks regulated entities must achieve.
- Procurement contexts. Organizations supplying digital products or services to government entities are increasingly required to demonstrate IS 17802 conformance as a procurement condition. This mirrors the VPAT/ACR requirement in the US context.
For practical compliance purposes, IS 17802 means WCAG 2.1 Level AA tested and verified. In 2026 audit cycles, STQC and accredited auditors are expecting WCAG 2.2 alignment in practice, even where WCAG 2.1 remains the formal baseline.
GIGW 3.0: The Standard for Government Websites
GIGW 3.0 (Guidelines for Indian Government Websites and Apps, third edition) is the mandatory operational standard for all central and state government websites and mobile applications in India. It was published by the National Informatics Centre (NIC) under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), with the 3.0 edition superseding the 2.0 edition in 2024.
According to the official GIGW guidelines portal, GIGW 3.0 introduces 17 new success criteria beyond the previous version and establishes 88 mandatory checkpoints across four domains:
- Accessibility — WCAG 2.1 Level AA as the minimum standard. Government websites must support screen readers, provide meaningful alt text on images, maintain WCAG color contrast ratios, enable full keyboard navigation, provide captions and transcripts for all video and audio content, and support Indian language accessibility. Mobile accessibility is explicitly covered.
- Quality — Content accuracy, currency, governance, contact information, grievance mechanisms, and search functionality. GIGW 3.0 requires a dedicated accessibility statement on every government website, along with a documented feedback mechanism for users to report accessibility barriers.
- Cybersecurity — GIGW 3.0 requires a Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing (VAPT) report from a CERT-In empaneled agency as a mandatory prerequisite for STQC audit submission. This is a significant addition that ties accessibility certification to security compliance.
- Lifecycle Management — Continuous compliance monitoring through centralized dashboards, regular re-certification, and governance processes for maintaining accessibility over time.
Non-compliance with GIGW 3.0 is not merely a technical failure. According to the IMPRI policy review of GIGW 3.0, it represents a failure of the statutory obligation under the RPwD Act to provide equally accessible public services to all citizens, including persons with disabilities.
SEBI’s Digital Accessibility Mandate: What It Requires
The most significant development in India digital accessibility in recent years is SEBI’s July 31, 2025 circular mandating accessibility compliance for all SEBI-regulated entities.
The mandate applies to all entities regulated by SEBI — stock exchanges, brokers, mutual funds, portfolio managers, investment advisers, depositories, custodians, alternative investment funds, and fintech platforms operating in India’s capital markets.
What Triggered the Mandate
The immediate trigger was India’s Supreme Court judgment of April 30, 2025, which held that the right to digital access is an intrinsic component of the right to life and personal liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution. The Court directed the Central Government, RBI, SEBI, and TRAI to frame and enforce appropriate accessibility standards. SEBI’s July circular was the direct response.
In a landmark regulatory step, SEBI’s December 2025 clarification formally recognized that “Investors’ Right to have digital accessibility” would be included in the Investor Charters of all Regulated Entities. This makes accessibility an explicitly recognized investor right — not just a regulatory requirement.
Technical Requirements
Regulated entities must comply with three technical standards simultaneously:
WCAG 2.1 or the latest version available at the time of audit. In practice, this means WCAG 2.2 is the expected standard in 2026 audit cycles.
GIGW guidelines (latest version, currently GIGW 3.0) where applicable to digital platforms.
IS 17802, India’s national standard for ICT accessibility.
According to Deque’s analysis of SEBI’s digital accessibility framework, this triple-standard requirement means regulated entities must satisfy all three frameworks, using the most demanding interpretation where they overlap.
The SEBI Compliance Timeline
The compliance roadmap SEBI set for regulated entities had four milestones:
Regulated entities were required to submit a list of all their digital platforms to SEBI by September 30, 2025. This formed the basis for audit scope and ongoing monitoring.
A Digital Accessibility Readiness and Compliance Status Report was due by March 31, 2026, documenting the current state of each platform against the required standards.
Third-party accessibility audits across all platforms must be completed by April 30, 2026. These audits must be conducted by accredited third-party auditors using automated tools, manual testing, and assistive technology verification.
All audit findings must be fully remediated by July 31, 2026.
According to L&E Global’s analysis of the SEBI mandate and the official SEBI circular, entities that fail to meet these deadlines face regulatory scrutiny and potential enforcement action.
STQC Certification: How Government Websites Get Certified
The Standardisation Testing and Quality Certification (STQC) Directorate, under MeitY, is India’s primary certification body for government website quality and accessibility. STQC issues the Certificate of Quality for Websites (CQW), which is the official certification that a government website meets GIGW 3.0 requirements including IS 17802 / WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility.
The STQC certification process follows a defined sequence. Understanding it matters if your organization is a government entity, a PSU, or a vendor supplying digital services to the government.
Pre-audit preparation. Before submitting for STQC audit, the website must obtain a VAPT report from a CERT-In empaneled agency. This security requirement cannot be skipped — STQC will not begin the accessibility audit process without a valid VAPT certificate. The website must also complete an internal accessibility review and remediate obvious failures before submission.
Formal audit submission. The organization submits the website for formal audit through STQC’s official process. STQC’s audit covers all 88 GIGW 3.0 mandatory checkpoints including WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility, quality and content standards, and cybersecurity compliance.
Audit and findings. STQC’s audit combines automated testing tools with manual inspection and assistive technology testing. Findings are documented and shared with the organization for remediation.
Remediation and re-verification. The organization addresses all audit findings and resubmits evidence. STQC verifies the fixes before issuing the certificate.
Certificate issuance. The CQW certificate is valid for twelve months, after which re-certification is required. This means accessibility is not a one-time project for government entities but a continuous compliance obligation.
According to Lumiversesolutions’ step-by-step STQC guide, the full process typically takes five to six months from initial preparation to certificate issuance, depending on the size of the website and how quickly identified issues are remediated.
Who Must Comply and By When
The details below summarizes India digital accessibility requirements by sector:
Central and state government websites and apps must comply with GIGW 3.0, IS 17802, and WCAG 2.1 AA. STQC CQW certification is required on a twelve-month renewal cycle. This obligation is active now under the RPwD Act.
Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs), including public banks, insurance companies, and state-owned enterprises, must comply with IS 17802 and WCAG 2.1 AA under the RPwD Act. Sector-specific regulators (RBI, IRDAI) are issuing their own circulars aligned with the Supreme Court ruling.
SEBI-regulated entities — stock exchanges, brokers, mutual funds, investment advisers, depositories, and fintech platforms — must comply with WCAG 2.1/2.2, GIGW 3.0 (where applicable), and IS 17802. Third-party audit must be complete by April 30, 2026, and all remediation must be done by July 31, 2026.
Private sector healthcare platforms receiving government funding or operating under government health schemes fall under Section 504-equivalent obligations tied to RPwD Act. WCAG 2.1 AA compliance is the expected standard.
EdTech and e-learning platforms serving government institutions or participating in government schemes are increasingly subject to IS 17802 and WCAG 2.1 AA requirements through procurement conditions.
Private businesses without direct government contracts or SEBI regulation are not yet under a formal mandate, but the Supreme Court’s constitutional framing of digital access as a fundamental right creates legal exposure for any business providing digital services to Indian users. Private sector mandates are expected to expand.
Our government and public sector accessibility services cover GIGW 3.0 compliance, IS 17802 audits, and STQC preparation for public sector organizations. For financial sector entities, our accessibility audit services are designed to meet the third-party audit requirements under SEBI’s circular.
How to Get Compliant
The compliance path is the same regardless of which Indian standard applies to your organization. The underlying technical requirement is WCAG 2.1 Level AA, verified through manual testing with assistive technology.
Start with a gap assessment. Run your digital platforms through automated accessibility testing and document what is failing. Automated tools catch roughly 30-40% of WCAG issues, so this gives you a starting picture but not a complete one. For SEBI compliance, this gap assessment is the foundation of the Readiness Report due March 31, 2026.
Get a third-party accessibility audit. For SEBI compliance, third-party audits are mandatory. For GIGW 3.0 and STQC certification, the audit is conducted by STQC itself, but organizations typically commission an independent audit first to identify and remediate issues before the official STQC submission. Our accessibility audit services use JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver, and TalkBack across the full platform scope — web, mobile, and documents.
Remediate systematically. Audit findings should be prioritized by severity and legal risk. WCAG Level A failures first, then Level AA. Keyboard navigation failures, screen reader compatibility issues, and form accessibility problems are the most commonly cited in complaints and are typically the highest priority.
Produce an accessibility statement. GIGW 3.0 requires a published accessibility statement on every government website. SEBI’s framework requires documented evidence of compliance commitment. A clear, accurate accessibility statement with a feedback mechanism demonstrates good faith and is often a required document in audits and procurement.
Build a monitoring process. Accessibility degrades over time as new features are added, third-party tools are integrated, and content is updated. STQC requires re-certification every twelve months. SEBI’s framework implies ongoing monitoring. Our accessibility monitoring and governance service handles this through scheduled automated scans, manual sampling, and regression alerts after launches.
Contact us to discuss your organization’s compliance requirements, applicable deadlines, and the fastest path to meeting the Indian accessibility standards that apply to your sector.
The Bottom Line
India’s accessibility landscape changed fundamentally in 2025. The Supreme Court made digital access a constitutional right. SEBI created enforceable compliance deadlines for the entire financial sector. GIGW 3.0 set mandatory certification requirements for every government website. And IS 17802 formalized WCAG 2.1 as the national standard across sectors.
The July 31, 2026 remediation deadline for SEBI-regulated entities is the most pressing near-term milestone. But the broader direction is clear: India digital accessibility is moving from aspiration to enforcement, and the window for voluntary adoption is closing.
Organizations that begin compliance work now — with a proper audit, a documented remediation plan, and an ongoing monitoring process — will be ready when their regulatory deadline arrives. Those that wait until the last quarter will be competing for audit slots and remediation capacity in a market that is already filling up.
If you want to understand where your platforms stand against IS 17802, GIGW 3.0, or the SEBI accessibility requirements, contact us for a preliminary assessment. We work with government entities, PSUs, financial sector firms, and private businesses across India’s accessibility compliance landscape.
