SEBI penalties and consequences for accessibility non‑compliance

SEBI doesn’t publish a separate penalty table just for digital accessibility yet, but non‑compliance can still trigger the same enforcement tools and monetary penalties SEBI uses for other regulatory violations.

1. How SEBI can act on accessibility non‑compliance

SEBI’s digital accessibility circulars say that accessibility is a regulatory obligation under the RPwD Act and SEBI’s own powers. If an entity ignores these requirements, SEBI can:

• Issue show‑cause notices and warning letters, asking why action should not be taken.

• Direct the entity to remedy non‑compliance within a specific time, and report back.

• Treat persistent failure as non‑compliance with SEBI circulars / LODR / intermediary regulations, which can lead to penalties.

• Escalate serious or repeated non‑compliance to adjudication, where a formal penalty order is passed.

Accessibility-related complaints can also be raised through the SCORES platform, and unresolved issues can trigger SEBI scrutiny.

2. Monetary penalties: what range are we talking about?

The digital accessibility circulars themselves don’t yet specify a unique rupee slab like “X lakh per day only for accessibility.” Instead, SEBI typically relies on its existing penalty framework (e.g., under SEBI Act, LODR, intermediary regulations) where:

• Monetary penalties for regulatory breaches often start from around ₹1 lakh and can go up to ₹1 crore or more per day in serious cases, depending on the regulation invoked and the gravity of the violation.

• In practice, many non‑compliance orders you see in other areas (like LODR or procedural failures) fall in the ₹1 lakh – ₹25 lakh band, but larger or repeated violations can go much higher.

So while we don’t yet have a public penalty order that says “₹X for accessibility non‑compliance,” SEBI has clearly indicated that failure to comply can attract penalties, regulatory notices and reputational risk, backed by RPwD.

3. Non‑monetary consequences

Beyond direct fines, SEBI can also:

• Impose restrictions on certain activities or new launches until issues are fixed.

• Name the entity in public orders, which is reputationally damaging.

• In extreme or repeated cases, suspend / cancel registrations or impose market bans on responsible individuals, similar to other serious regulatory breaches.

Because accessibility now ties into investor protection and the RPwD Act, ignoring it can also expose you to rights‑based actions (for example, before disability commissioners or courts) in addition to SEBI action.

4. What this means practically

Right now, SEBI is signalling that it expects:

• Platform‑wise readiness/compliance status reporting.

• Engagement of qualified auditors and structured remediation.

• All material accessibility barriers to be fixed within the defined timelines, followed by periodic audits.

Entities that can show a clear roadmap, active remediation and proper documentation will be in a far better position if SEBI asks questions than those that have done nothing.