NEW DELHI: India’s streaming platforms face a shake-up. The ministry of information and broadcasting has issued draft guidelines forcing OTT services to make their content accessible to people with hearing and visual impairments. The clock is ticking: platforms have six months to comply with the first phase, and two years to retrofit their entire libraries.
The regulations, published on 7th October, mark the government’s most aggressive push yet to enforce disability rights in the digital sphere. Every new release must carry at least one accessibility feature—closed captioning for the deaf, audio descriptions for the blind, or Indian Sign Language interpretation. No exceptions for Bollywood blockbusters or binge-worthy series.
The ministry is demanding 30 per cent of existing content be made accessible within a year, rising to 60 per cent after 18 months. The endgame? Full compliance across every title, from prestige dramas to reality shows, within 24 months. Platforms must also rewire their interfaces to work with assistive technologies and plaster accessibility indicators—(AD), (CC), (ISL)—on everything from trailers to thumbnails.
The rules stem from the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, which the government has been nudging OTT platforms to follow since an advisory in April. India ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2008, but enforcement has lagged. Now the ministry wants quarterly reports tracking progress, with a joint secretary-led committee poised to police compliance.
Live streams, podcasts and clips under ten minutes get a pass. But for everything else, the message is clear: subtitle it, describe it, sign it—or face scrutiny. The consultation period ends on 22 October.
For India’s 26.8m disabled citizens—and the streamers courting them—the game just changed.
