PRAGYA PRASUN & ORS. versus UNION OF INDIA & ORS.

PRAGYA PRASUN & ORS. versus UNION OF INDIA & ORS.

The Court held that existing digital KYC frameworks, as applied, result in accessibility barriers for persons with disabilities (notably facial/eye disfigurements and blindness), violating the accessibility and non-discrimination obligations under the RPwD Act, 2016 and constitutional guarantees; accordingly the Court directed regulatory authorities to mandate accessibility standards, adopt alternative liveness and authentication methods, preserve paper/offline KYC options in specified cases, implement audits, grievance mechanisms, human review of rejections, training, and other measures set out in the directions to ensure inclusive access to essential services.

Parties
Petitioner: Pragya Prasun & Ors.; Respondent: Union of India & Ors.
Jurisdiction
India
Judgment Date
30 April 2025
Procedural Posture
Writ Petition (civil) / Disposed by Judgment Dated 30 April 2025
Outcome
Writ petitions disposed of with directions to respondents
Legal Topics
Digital KYC, Accessibility, Reasonable Accommodation, Liveness Check, Facial Recognition, Web Content Accessibility (wcag), Rpw D Act Compliance, Video KYC / V CIP
Constitutional Law Disability Rights Administrative Law Financial Regulation Telecommunications Law Information Technology Law Human Rights Digital KYC +7 more

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Parties

Pragya Prasun & Ors.

Petitioner

Union of India & Ors.

Respondent

Procedural Posture

Writ Petition (civil) / Disposed by Judgment Dated 30 April 2025

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether digital KYC/e-KYC/video-KYC frameworks are inaccessible to persons with disabilities
  2. 2 Whether regulatory authorities (RBI, SEBI, TRAI, PFRDA, IRDAI, DoT) failed to ensure reasonable accommodations and accessibility in digital KYC processes
  3. 3 Whether mandatory requirements of capturing a live photograph and conducting liveness checks are discriminatory and violate Article 21 read with Articles 14, 15 and 38

Ratio Decidendi

The Court held that existing digital KYC frameworks, as applied, result in accessibility barriers for persons with disabilities (notably facial/eye disfigurements and blindness), violating the accessibility and non-discrimination obligations under the RPwD Act, 2016 and constitutional guarantees; accordingly the Court directed regulatory authorities to mandate accessibility standards, adopt alternative liveness and authentication methods, preserve paper/offline KYC options in specified cases, implement audits, grievance mechanisms, human review of rejections, training, and other measures set out in the directions to ensure inclusive access to essential services.

Court Disposition

Writ petitions disposed of with directions to respondents

Orders

  • Respondent authorities/ministries to direct all regulated entities to follow prescribed accessibility standards and appoint nodal officers for digital accessibility compliance.
  • All regulated entities must undergo periodical accessibility audits by certified accessibility professionals and involve persons with blindness in user acceptance testing.