The RPWD Act 2016: What Every Indian Employer Must Know in 2025

The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016 is India's most comprehensive legislation governing the rights of specially-abled individuals in the workplace. Enacted in December 2016 and replacing the older Persons with Disabilities Act 1995, the RPWD Act 2016 employer obligations India framework is significantly more demanding than its predecessor — with a broader definition of covered conditions, stronger non-discrimination provisions, explicit reasonable accommodation requirements, and criminal penalties for wilful violations. Yet a 2023 survey by the National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP) found that fewer than 34% of Indian private sector employers with 20 or more employees were fully compliant with the Act's requirements. This guide tells you exactly what you need to do — and gives you the checklist to confirm you are doing it.

Which Employers Does the RPWD Act 2016 Apply To?

The Act's employment provisions apply to:

• All government establishments (central and state), without size threshold
• All private sector establishments with 20 or more employees
• All local bodies and statutory corporations

If your organisation employs 20 or more people in India — including contractual employees for the purpose of threshold calculation — the employment provisions of the Act apply to you.

What Conditions Does the Act Cover?

The RPWD Act 2016 expanded the list of covered conditions significantly from the 1995 Act. The 21 specified conditions include:

• Blindness, low vision
• Deaf and hard of hearing
• Locomotor disability (including cerebral palsy, leprosy cured, dwarfism, acid attack victims, muscular dystrophy)
• Autism spectrum disorder
• Intellectual disability, specific learning disabilities (including dyslexia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia)
• Mental illness (including depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder)
• Speech and language disabilities
• Multiple sclerosis, thalassemia, haemophilia, sickle cell disease, chronic neurological conditions
• Epilepsy
• Multiple disabilities

Critically, the Act also allows the Central Government to add new conditions by notification — meaning the list can expand beyond these 21. As an employer, if in doubt about whether a condition is covered, treat it as covered and provide reasonable accommodation.

Employer Obligation 1: Equal Opportunity Policy

Section 21 of the Act requires every establishment with 20 or more employees to formulate and publish an Equal Opportunity Policy. The policy must contain:

• Facilities and amenities available to specially-abled employees
• The name of the officer designated to address disability-related grievances (the "Liaison Officer")
• Targets for recruitment and career advancement of specially-abled persons
• The manner of posting information accessible to persons with different types of disabilities

Compliance action: Draft and publish an Equal Opportunity Policy if you do not have one. Post it on your website, in your employee handbook, and at your workplace. Register it with the local authority (District Magistrate/Collector) as required by Section 21(4).

Employer Obligation 2: Appointment of a Liaison Officer

Section 22 of the Act requires establishments with 20 or more employees to designate a Liaison Officer at the management level who is responsible for:

• Overseeing recruitment, placement, and career progression of specially-abled employees
• Handling grievances related to discrimination or accommodation
• Maintaining records of specially-abled employees (see Obligation 3)

Compliance action: Formally designate a Liaison Officer (typically an HR Director or Senior HR Manager) in writing. Document the appointment. Include the Liaison Officer's name and contact details in your Equal Opportunity Policy.

Employer Obligation 3: Maintenance of Records

Section 22 of the Act requires employers to maintain records of specially-abled employees, including details of posts held, nature of disability, and facilities provided. These records must be available for inspection by government authorities.

Compliance action: Establish a confidential registry of specially-abled employees who have disclosed their condition, including the date of employment, role, any accommodations provided, and career progression. Handle this data under personal data protection principles — employees should consent to inclusion in the registry.

Employer Obligation 4: Reasonable Accommodation

Section 3 of the Act prohibits discrimination against specially-abled persons in employment and requires all establishments to provide "reasonable accommodation" — defined as "necessary and appropriate modification and adjustments, without imposing a disproportionate or undue burden."

Reasonable accommodation applies across the full employment lifecycle:

• Recruitment and hiring process (including interview format, application accessibility)
• Workplace physical environment (accessibility of building, workstation)
• Work tools and technology (assistive technology, software access)
• Work arrangements (flexible hours, remote work where role-appropriate)
• Career progression (performance review accessibility, training access)

What is "reasonable"? The Act does not define a specific cost threshold, but courts and the Chief Commissioner of Persons with Disabilities have consistently interpreted "undue burden" in reference to the employer's overall financial capacity. For most medium and large enterprises, accommodations under ₹50,000 per year per employee are considered well within the "reasonable" threshold. The 10 adaptations in our workplace adaptation guide all fall well within this range.

Compliance action: Establish a formal accommodation request process with a designated point of contact, a defined response timeline (we recommend 5 working days), and a documented decision process for each request.

Employer Obligation 5: 4% Reservation in Government Establishments

Section 34 of the Act requires government establishments to reserve 4% of posts for specially-abled persons, distributed as:

• 1% for blindness and low vision
• 1% for deaf and hard of hearing
• 1% for locomotor disability including cerebral palsy, leprosy cured, dwarfism, acid attack victims, muscular dystrophy
• 1% for autism, intellectual disability, specific learning disability, and mental illness

This reservation requirement applies to government establishments only. Private sector employers are not required to maintain reservations under the Act, though many choose to set voluntary targets.

Employer Obligation 6: Non-Discrimination in Employment Decisions

Section 20 of the Act prohibits discrimination against specially-abled persons in all employment-related decisions, including:

• Recruitment, promotion, and termination
• Pay, wages, and benefits
• Training and skills development
• Conditions of service

This provision covers both direct discrimination (treating a specially-abled person less favourably because of their ability difference) and indirect discrimination (applying a neutral requirement that disadvantages specially-abled persons without justification).

Penalties for Non-Compliance

The RPWD Act 2016 includes criminal penalty provisions:

• Section 89: Contravention of any provision of the Act — imprisonment up to 6 months and/or fine up to ₹10,000 for first offence; imprisonment up to 2 years and/or fine up to ₹5 lakh for subsequent offences
• Section 90: Offences by companies — where an offence is committed by a company, the director, manager, or officer "in charge of and responsible for the conduct of the business" is liable, unless they prove the offence was committed without their knowledge or that they exercised due diligence to prevent it

The RPWD Compliance Checklist for 2025

• ☐ Equal Opportunity Policy drafted, published, and registered with local authority
• ☐ Liaison Officer designated in writing with name published in EOP
• ☐ Employee records system established for specially-abled employees (with appropriate consent)
• ☐ Reasonable accommodation request process established with documented response protocol
• ☐ Workplace physical accessibility assessed and basic barriers removed
• ☐ Hiring process reviewed for indirect discrimination (see our inclusive interview process guide)
• ☐ Pay equity reviewed — specially-abled employees receiving equal pay for equal work
• ☐ Government establishments: 4% reservation targets tracked and reported
• ☐ HR and management team briefed on the Act's provisions and their obligations

For support in building a compliant and effective ability-inclusive hiring programme, visit IMAbled's employer platform. NGO partners in the IMAbled network also provide RPWD compliance advisory support alongside candidate placement services.

Frequently Asked Questions