The Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that digital access is a fundamental right and issued a slew of directions to ease the Know-Your-Customer (KYC) process for acid attack survivors who may have suffered eye injuries and other persons who may suffer visual impairment or low vision.
The remark by the court came as a bench of justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan pronounced a verdict on two PILs in connection with such cases.
In its landmark judgment, the court said the government must ensure that digital processes such as KYC are universally accessible to all, including persons who may have suffered facial disfigurements or persons with disabilities.
This is guaranteed under Articles 21 (right to life and liberty), 14 (right to equality) and 15 (protection against discrimination) of the Constitution of India, the court said.
Pertinently, the court declared the right to digital access is an intrinsic component of the right to life under Article 21.
While pronouncing the order, the court also issued several directions to ensure that those with visual impairment or other such challenges are able to complete the KYC process.
“We have held that there is a need for change in KYC processes for the disabled. We have given 20 directions. The petitioners who suffer from acid attacks and blindness have been unable to complete the KYC process due to facial disfigurements," the court remarked.
“Constitutional provisions confer a statutory right on the petitioners to be accommodated in the KYC process. Digital KYC guidelines must be revised with the accessibility code. In the contemporary era, where economic opportunities, etc,areare through digital access, Article 21 needs to be re-interpreted in light of such technology and the digital divide increases," it added.
According to Bar and Bench, one of the petitioners was an acid attack survivor with severe eye disfigurement and facial damage. The survivor had approached an ICICI Bank in July 2023 to get a bank account opened.
However, she was deemed to be incapable of completing the Digital KYC/e-KYC process due to the bank’s insistence on completing the requirement of capturing a “live photograph" by blinking her eyes.
The mandatory requirement of proving a customer’s ‘liveness’ under the RBI-regulated KYC process can only be fulfilled upon a customer blinking his/her eyes before the camera, as per the petition.
The bank later made an exception for the petitioner only due to an uproar over the issue on the social media.
The petitioner also said that a direction should be issued to all public and private establishments conducting the Digital KYC/e-KYC process to effectively implement the guidelines that may be issued.
