The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has released draft guidelines for Accessibility of Content on OTT Platforms for Persons with Hearing and Visual Impairment. The guidelines propose a two-phase implementation schedule and are open for public consultation until 07.10.2025.
These guidelines are based on Constitutional guarantees, India's obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act (RPwD) 2016, and the Code of Ethics under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media, Ethics Code) Rules, 2021. The aim is to ensure audio-visual content on OTT platforms is accessible to individuals with hearing and visual impairments.
The Ministry previously issued Accessibility Standards for Persons with Disabilities in Television Programmes for the Hearing Impaired on 11.09.2019. Implementation of access service should be phased, starting with the public broadcaster (Prasar Bharati), followed by private broadcasters and private news broadcasters.
This information was submitted by the Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting, Dr. L. Murugan, in the Rajya Sabha in response to questions. The release ID is 2203010. The text is also available in Urdu, Hindi, Punjabi, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam.
Key Entities Referenced
Draft OTT Accessibility Norms: Accessibility guidelines for Over-The-Top (OTT) platforms, ensuring content accessibility for hearing and visually impaired users.
Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act (RPwD), 2016: Indian legislation focused on the rights and empowerment of persons with disabilities.
Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021: Rules under the IT Act of India governing digital media content and intermediaries.
Ministry of Information & Broadcasting: The Indian government ministry responsible for the regulation and development of the information and broadcasting sectors.
IT Act, 2000: Indian legislation that provides legal recognition for transactions carried out through electronic means and for other matters relating to information technology.
Ministry of Information & Broadcasting
Government Releases Draft OTT Accessibility
Norms for Hearing and Visually Impaired Users
Centre Proposes Two-Phase Implementation Schedule for
Accessible Content on OTT Platforms
प्रव तथ: 12 DEC 2025 4:30PM by PIB Delhi
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has issued draft Guidelines for Accessibility of Content on
Platforms of Publishers of Online Curated Content (OTT Platforms) for Persons with Hearing and Visual
Impairment for public consultation on 07.10.2025.
The draft guidelines have been published keeping in view the Constitutional guarantees enshrined under
Article 14, India’s obligation under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities (UNCRPD), the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act (RPwD), 2016 and Code of Ethics
under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media, Ethics Code) Rules, 2021
on 25.02.2021 under IT Act, 2000 (IT Rules, 2021).
The draft guidelines aim to ensure that audio-visual content on OTT platforms is accessible to persons
with hearing and visual impairment. It also provides for a two-phase implementation schedule.
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has already issued Accessibility Standards for Persons with
Disabilities in Television Programmes for the Hearing Impaired dated 11.09.2019.
Part 12 of the said Accessibility Standards prescribes that the implementation of access service should be
in a phased manner, first implemented by the public broadcaster (i.e. Prasar Bharati), and followed by
private broadcasters and private news broadcasters.
This Information was submitted by the Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Dr. L.
Murugan in the Rajya Sabha today in response to questions asked by Smt. Sangeeta Yadav, Dr.
Medha Vishram Kulkarni and Shri Deepak Prakash.
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Mahesh Kumar
(रलीज़ आईडी: 2203010) आगंतुक पटल : 452
इस वज्ञ को इन भाषाओ ंम पढ़: Urdu , ही , Punjabi , Telugu , Kannada , Malayalam