Documentation

Equal Opportunity Policy Drafting and Registration (RPwD Act)

Section 21 of the RPwD Act requires every private establishment to publish and register an equal opportunity policy, with no employee-count threshold on the duty itself. We draft the policy scaled to your headcount, prepare the registration copy for the Chief or State Commissioner, and confirm the current filing route as part of the work.

Section 21 of the RPwD Act requires every private establishment to publish and register an equal opportunity policy. There's no employee-count threshold on that duty. We draft the policy scaled to your headcount and prepare the registration copy for the Chief or State Commissioner.

The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 defines a private establishment broadly: a company, firm, cooperative, society, trust, or almost any other organised entity. Section 21 says every establishment shall notify and register an equal opportunity policy. It doesn't say every establishment above a certain size.

Most commentary on this section describes it as a 20-employee rule. Read against the Act and the 2017 Rules directly, that's wrong. Twenty employees changes what the policy has to contain. The duty to have one starts well below that.

Scope

What's included

Below 20 employees, Rule 8(4) covers facilities and amenities to enable persons with disabilities to do their jobs. At 20 or more, Rule 8(3) adds identified posts, selection and promotion provisions, transfer and leave preferences, assistive devices, barrier-free access, and a named liaison officer.
Rule 8(2): published preferably on your website, or at conspicuous places on your premises if you don't have one.
Section 21(2) requires registering a copy of the policy with the Commissioner. We haven't found a prescribed format or portal for this step in the 2017 Rules as gazetted, so as part of the engagement we confirm the current filing route with the relevant Commissioner's office directly, rather than pointing you at a process that may not exist yet.
Where your headcount is 20 or more, we draft the appointment documentation for the liaison officer Rule 8(3) requires.

Specifics

The details

There's no headcount threshold on the obligation itself

Section 2(v) defines a private establishment as a company, firm, cooperative or other society, association, trust, agency, institution, organisation, union, factory, or similar body. Section 21(1) says every establishment shall notify an equal opportunity policy, and Section 21(2) says every establishment shall register a copy of it with the Chief Commissioner or the State Commissioner. Section 20, by contrast, is expressly limited to government establishments. The drafters knew how to narrow a section when they meant to, and they didn't narrow this one.

What changes at twenty employees

Below 20 employees (Rule 8(4)): facilities and amenities to enable persons with disabilities to discharge their duties.
20 or more employees (Rule 8(3)): the above, plus a list of posts identified as suitable, the manner of selection, post-recruitment and pre-promotion training, preference in transfer and posting, special leave, preference in residential accommodation, assistive devices and barrier-free accessibility, and appointment of a liaison officer.

Most secondary commentary frames this as a rule that applies once you hit 20 employees. On the Act and the 2017 Rules as gazetted, the duty to publish and register applies at any size; the twenty-employee line only governs what the policy has to contain. A ten-person company owes a policy too. It's just a shorter one.

Registering with the Commissioner

Section 21(2) is a separate duty from publishing the policy: a copy has to be registered with the Chief Commissioner or the State Commissioner, as the case may be. The 2017 Rules as gazetted don't set out a prescribed format or a filing portal for this step. We prepare the policy and the registration copy, and confirm the current route with the relevant Commissioner's office as part of the work, rather than promising a specific portal that we haven't verified exists.

What happens if it's skipped

Section 89 sets the general contravention penalty: a fine up to ₹10,000 for a first contravention, and not less than ₹50,000 up to ₹5,00,000 for a subsequent one. No imprisonment attaches to it.

Process

How it works

Step 1 of 4

Confirm your headcount

To fix whether Rule 8(3)'s fuller content applies, or Rule 8(4)'s shorter version.

Common mistakes founders make

Assuming the duty starts at 20 employees, when only the policy's content changes at that line.
Publishing the policy but never registering a copy with the Commissioner, treating Section 21(1) and 21(2) as the same step.
Skipping the liaison officer appointment once headcount crosses 20.
Drafting the policy once and never revisiting it as headcount moves across the twenty-employee line.

Clarifications

Frequently asked questions

Yes. Section 21 applies to every private establishment, with no headcount threshold on the duty to publish and register. At under 20 employees, the content is the shorter, facilities-only version under Rule 8(4).

The 2017 Rules as gazetted don't set out a prescribed format or portal for this step. We confirm the current filing route with the relevant Commissioner's office directly, as part of the engagement.

Rule 8(3) adds identified posts, selection and training provisions, transfer and leave preferences, assistive devices, barrier-free access, and a named liaison officer, on top of the facilities and amenities every establishment needs regardless of size.

Section 89 sets a fine up to ₹10,000 for a first contravention, and not less than ₹50,000 up to ₹5,00,000 for a subsequent one. No imprisonment.

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