Delhi High Court Asks Centre To Expedite Process Of Issuing Guidelines On 'Accessibility Standards' For OTTs To Aid Persons With Disabilities

The Delhi High Court on Monday (May 19) directed the Union Government to expedite the process of issuance of guidelines on incorporating accessibility features in Over-The-Top (OTT) platforms for persons with disabilities (PwDs).

Justice Sachin Datta passed the order while dealing with a plea seeking incorporation of accessibility features, audio description, same language captioning and Indian sign language for the visually and hearing impaired persons on OTT platforms.

The petitioner, Akshat Baldwa, is represented by Advocate Rahul Bajaj.

The Court was informed by the counsel for the film producers that necessary steps were taken by them to incorporate accessibility features in the movie “Vicky Vidya ka Viral Video”.

He also said that similar steps will be taken for other films- Article 370, The Buckingham Murders, Bhool Bhulaiyaa three and Shaitan.

The counsel appearing for Netflix informed Court that it will coordinate with the producers of the films and ensure that accessibility features are incorporated.

The Court granted four weeks' time to Netflix for filing its response in the matter.

Justice Datta directed the removal of the films- Stree two and Auro Main Kahaan Dam Tha, from the array of parties, after the producers said that they have complied with the direction to incorporate accessibility features.

The case will now be heard on July 17.

Title: Akshat Baldwa & Anr. v. Maddock Films & Ors. 

Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (Del) 578