SEBI Just Made Digital Accessibility Mandatory for Financial Institutions. Here’s What That Means for You

If you work in India’s financial sector, you need to know about SEBI’s recent circular from September 25, 2025. It’s not a suggestion or a recommendation. Every stock exchange, mutual fund, broker, depository, and bank under SEBI’s watch now has to make their digital platforms accessible to people with disabilities. No exceptions.

This isn’t coming out of nowhere. The Supreme Court ruled in April 2025 that digital access is a fundamental right under Article 21 of our Constitution. SEBI’s circular puts teeth into that ruling and the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act from 2016.

Let’s break down what this means for your organization, what you need to do, and when you need to do it.

What SEBI is Actually Asking For

The requirements are straightforward. Your websites and mobile apps need to work for everyone, including people who use screen readers, voice navigation, or other assistive technologies.

SEBI wants you to follow three specific standards:

First, IS 17802:2021. This is India’s own accessibility standard for digital content. Think of it as our local rulebook for making websites and apps work for people with disabilities.

Second, WCAG 2.1 (or whatever’s the latest version). This is the global standard that most countries reference. It covers the basics of making digital content perceivable, usable, understandable, and reliable for all users.

Third, GIGW 3.0. These are guidelines specifically for Indian government websites. If you’re a public sector financial institution, you’ll need to pay attention to this one.

Together, these three standards give you a complete picture of what accessible digital platforms should look like.

Timeline: When Things Need to Happen

SEBI recently updated the timeline, so make sure you’re working with the latest dates. Here’s what you need to do and when:

By September 30, 2025, you need to give SEBI a list of every digital platform your customers use. Along with that, send them a report showing what accessibility work you’ve already done. Your CEO or CTO needs to sign off on this.

By December 14, 2025, hire an auditor who’s certified by the International Association of Accessibility Professionals. This isn’t optional. SEBI wants someone with proper credentials looking at your platforms.

By April 30, 2026, your auditor needs to finish checking all your platforms. They’ll test everything against the standards and give you a detailed report of what’s working and what’s not.

By July 31, 2026, fix everything the audit found. Your platforms should meet all the required standards by this date.

By April 30, 2027, submit your final compliance report for the year. This covers all the audits you’ve done and what you’ve fixed. Going forward, you’ll need to do this annually, and again, your top leadership needs to sign it.

Each of these isn’t just a suggestion. SEBI expects documentation at every step. Platform lists, appointment letters, audit reports, fix confirmations. Keep your records organized.

Who Reports to Whom

SEBI also changed who reports to whom in their August 29, 2025 update.

If you’re an Investment Adviser or Research Analyst, you now report to BSE Limited.

Brokers and Depository Participants report to their own stock exchange or depository.

Market Infrastructure Institutions and everyone else continues reporting directly to SEBI.

This makes things cleaner. You’ll work with whoever oversees your specific sector. Just make sure you know where your reports need to go.

Your Customer Communications Need Work Too

It’s not just your websites and apps. Every document you send to investors needs to be accessible.

Account statements? They need to work with screen readers. Use tagged PDFs, not just scanned images.

Disclosures and legal documents? Same deal. Follow WCAG standards for all digital content.

Videos or audio content? Add captions and offer Indian Sign Language interpretations where appropriate.

The goal is simple: every investor should be able to access the same information, regardless of how they interact with digital content.

Why You Can’t Ignore This

Let’s talk about what happens if you don’t comply.

First, there’s legal risk. The RPwD Act has been law since 2016, but SEBI’s circular makes enforcement much more concrete. If your platform isn’t accessible, expect complaints and potentially legal action.

Second, your reputation takes a hit. When customers can’t use your platform, they talk about it. In today’s world, that means social media, reviews, and news coverage.

Third, it affects your ESG ratings. Investors increasingly look at how companies handle accessibility and inclusion. Non-compliance can hurt your scores and make you less attractive to socially conscious investors.

Fourth, you’re leaving money on the table. People with disabilities represent a significant market segment. If your competitors make their platforms accessible and you don’t, guess who gets those customers?

Getting Started: What You Can Do Right Now

Don’t wait until the deadlines are breathing down your neck. Here’s what you should be doing today.

Run an accessibility audit. You need to know where you stand. Get someone qualified to test your websites and apps with actual assistive technologies. Find out what barriers exist before SEBI’s auditor does.

Train your people. Your developers, designers, content creators, and QA teams all need to understand accessibility. SEBI requires this training anyway, so you might as well get ahead of it. At D2i Technology, we offer training programs that cover both Indian and international standards, tailored for financial institutions.

Bring in people who know what they’re doing. IAAP certification exists for a reason. At D2i Technology, we’re certified accessibility professionals with deep experience in financial sector compliance. We can help you assess where you are, build a roadmap, train your teams, and set up systems so accessibility becomes part of your normal workflow instead of a special project.

Build accessibility into your development process. Don’t wait until something’s built to test it for accessibility. Your developers should be checking for issues as they code. Your QA team should include accessibility in their test plans. Catching problems early saves you massive amounts of time and money compared to fixing them after launch.

Update your vendor contracts. Whether you’re buying software or hiring an agency, make accessibility a requirement. Put it in your RFPs. Make it part of your delivery milestones. Don’t sign off on anything until it meets accessibility standards. This protects you and keeps everyone accountable.

A Few More Things to Remember

You need an annual audit starting October 31, 2025. Every year after that, you’ll submit an updated report within 30 days of your financial year end. Both your CEO and CTO need to sign it.

Set up a system for handling accessibility complaints. People need a clear way to report problems: an email address, a phone number, or an online form. More importantly, have a process for actually fixing what they report. Track issues, respond promptly, and follow through.

Where This Fits in the Global Picture

India isn’t alone in this. The European Union has the European Accessibility Act. The US is updating its ADA requirements. Countries around the world are making digital accessibility mandatory.

The message is clear: digital accessibility isn’t a nice-to-have. It’s not optional. It’s becoming a baseline expectation everywhere.

How D2i Technology Can Help

We’ve been working in accessibility for years. We know the Indian standards inside and out, and we understand the specific challenges financial institutions face. We’re not just consultants who show up, run an audit, and disappear. We partner with you to build accessibility into your organization’s DNA.

We can help you with your gap assessment, build your governance framework, train your teams at every level, conduct your IAAP-certified audits, and set up continuous monitoring so this doesn’t become a crisis every year.

Whether you’re just starting to think about accessibility or you’re already partway through the process, we can meet you where you are and help you get where you need to be.

Want to talk about your specific situation? Reach out to us at D2i Technology. Let’s make sure your platforms work for everyone who needs to use them.