Dear all, You will perhaps recall my earlier mails regarding inaccessibility of the Indian Railway reservation system specially the denial of concessional online ticket booking for persons with disabilities. In this context, a close friend Yogesh Taneja had filed a RTI with IRCTC - the agency which operates the online reservation website. The scanned text of the reply received from them is appended at the end.
The response from IRCTC is very negative and few legal activists on this list are working on taking up this case at appropriate forums. Meanwhile, there is a good news, I don't know what role this RTI application played in this but as of today, the totally inaccessible CAPTCHA has been withdrawn from the online reservation form. Therefore, it is possible for visually impaired to book tickets at least under general quota. ---- RTI response ---- INDIAN RAILWAY CATERING AND TOURISM CORPORATION LTD. (A Govt. of India Enterprise) No.2010/IRCTUERTD/RTI Yogesh Taneja, C/O Mr. Arvind Ashdhir. National Association for the Blind, Sector-5, R.K. Puram, New Delhi-110 022 Date 15.10.2010 Sub: Information under RTI Act This is in reference to your letter dated 28' September 2010 seeking information about compliance of web accessibility guidelines issued by the government of India. information sought under RTI act is as under: Q1. Is the IRCTC website www.irctc.co.in complying with the web accessibility guidelines issued by the Government of India? Q1.1 If yes, please provide a copy of the compliance certificate/report. Reply of The guidelines as stated by you are for compliance in Indian Government Q1 & 1.1 website, whereas IRCTC website www.irctc.co.in is a e-commerce website having all commercial safety feature like VeriSign, Verified by Visa, Master Card Secure code etc. Q1.2 If the website www.irctc.co.in is not complying with the above said guidelines then what is the reason for the same? Reply: IRCTC website www.irctc.co.in is a commercial website, where transaction is done through e-payment. Q2. Has IRCTC ever got its website tested by persons with disabilities to find out if the online reservation system can be used by persons with disabilities such as persons with visual impairment (blindness, low vision), persons with mobility impairments and speech and hearing impairments? Reply: No. Q2.1 If this has not been done as yet then what are the reasons for the same? Reply: Compliance of web accessibility guidelines issued by the Government of India is not for e-commerce website where transaction of money is done through e payment. Q2.2. If such testing has been done, please provide me the testing report. Reply: No such testing has been done. Q3. Does the IRCTC have any policy of non-discrimination towards persons with disabilities? If yes please provide a copy of the concerned policy/circular/rules. Reply: HRD may reply as the question is regarding IRCTC policy of non-discrimination towards persons with disabilities. Q4. Why is IRCTC not allowing the facility of online reservation with concession to persons with disabilities although the facility of concAsional online reservation is available to senior citizens? Reply: Reservation in train is done through Indian Railways Passenger Reservation System (PRS) which is maintained by CRIS. As per the guidelines of Railway Board, no concessional tickets except senior citizens can be booked through I RCTC. In case the reply is not satisfactory, then appeal may be preferred within thirty days to the GGM (DCS), IRCTC, 9th Floor, Bank of Baroda Building, 16, parliament Street, New Delhi-110001. (Anil Chopra) PIO and DGM/RR Copy to: 1. it. Jt. General Manager (HRD) & PlOrplease find enclosed here the copy of application from Shri Yogesh Taneja for furnishing information in respect to question No.3 as the subject matter pertains to HRD. Sh. Yogesh Taneja, C/o Mr. Arvind Ashdhir, National Association for the Blind, Sector-5, R. K. Puram, New Delhi - 110022. Dated: 21.10.2010 Sub: Information sought under Right to information Act, 2005. Ref.: Your letter dated 28.09.2010. This is in reference to your letter dated 28.09.2010 seeking information under Right to Information Act - 2005. The reply to the query raised at point no. 3 is as follows: Q. Does the IRCTC have any policy of non-discrimination towards persons with disabilities? If yes please provide a copy of the concerned policy/circular/rules. Reply: No. But so far as recruitment to IRCTC is concerned, the instructions issued by Govt. of India in regard to reservations of persons with disabilities is strictly complied with. (R. K. Malhotra) Jt. General Manager (HRD) & PIO ---- Regards, Prashant Ranjan Verma To unsubscribe send a message to [email protected] with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in
