Licences of restaurants, hotels will be cancelled if they don't have ramps and toilets for people with disabilities

A person on a wheelchair wants to go to a restaurant with their family. However, there are several steps at the restaurant entrance, with no ramp for a wheelchair. Even if they somehow manage to enter, there is no usable toilet facility. In many restaurants, hotels and cafés across the city, this is still a common reality for people with disabilities.

The government is now making it mandatory for restaurants, hotels and cafés within city corporation areas to install separate ramps and accessible toilets for people with disabilities. Directives have been issued to cancel the trade licences or suspend renewal of these licences if the concerned establishments fail to provide these facilities within the specified timeframe.

On 14 May, the Local Government Division sent a letter regarding this matter to the chief executive officers of all city corporations in the country.
The letter stated that a meeting on protecting the rights of persons with disabilities and ensuring related services was held on 13 May under the chairmanship of the prime minister. At that meeting, the prime minister directed that restaurants, hotels, and cafés located within city corporation areas must ensure the construction of separate ramps and installation of accessible toilets for persons with disabilities within a reasonable timeframe.

The letter further stated that the trade licences of restaurants, hotels, and cafés that fail to comply with these directives will either be canceled or their renewal suspended. City corporations have been requested to take the necessary follow-up actions in this regard.

There is a considerable number of persons with disabilities in Bangladesh. According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics’ National Survey on Persons with Disabilities 2021, a total of 2.8 per cent of the country’s total population lives with some form of disability. Based on this estimate, the number of persons with disabilities in the country is around 4.6 million.

The survey also found that 2.45 per cent of people in urban areas are persons with disabilities. In other words, ensuring their accessibility to restaurants, cafés, hotels, and service centers in cities is not an act of charity or a special privilege, it is part of their civil rights.

Recently, a writ petition was filed in the High Court seeking directives for legislation making ramps mandatory in government institutions to facilitate the movement of persons with disabilities. Following this, the High Court issued a rule on the matter. The rule referred to ensuring accessibility in accordance with the Building Construction Rules 2008 and the Rights and Protection of Persons with Disabilities Act 2013.

Section 34 of the Rights and Protection of Persons with Disabilities Act 2013 states that accessibility for persons with disabilities must be ensured in public facilities. The law clearly mentions ensuring opportunities for persons with disabilities to move around, access, use, and receive services in public establishments.

Building construction regulations also highlight disability-friendly arrangements. The Bangladesh National Building Code calls for consideration of building safety, usability, and accessibility for all. In particular, features such as ramps, accessible pathways, and usable toilets in public buildings are extremely important for persons with disabilities.

Relevant stakeholders say that many restaurants and cafés in Dhaka and other major cities are located on the second or third floors of buildings. In some places, entrances are too narrow; elsewhere, stairs are the only option. Many hotels also lack facilities for wheelchair users to move between floors. As a result, persons with disabilities face barriers even when trying to dine out, stay as guests, or join social events.

According to disability rights advocates, ensuring accessibility does not simply mean building a ramp. It is also important whether the ramp is actually usable, how steep the slope is, whether the door is wide enough, and whether there is enough space in the toilet for a wheelchair to turn around. Often, ramps are built merely to comply with regulations, but in practice they are unusable.

If the government’s new directive is effectively implemented, city corporations will have to verify these requirements during the issuance and renewal of trade licences. As a result, new restaurants, cafés, and hotels will be compelled to incorporate disability-friendly infrastructure from the outset. Older establishments will also have to gradually make the necessary modifications.

State Minister for Local Government Mir Shahe Alam told Prothom Alo, “Urban services are for everyone. If a person with disabilities cannot normally enter a restaurant, hotel, or café, that is not just an infrastructural shortcoming—it is a matter of civil rights. City corporations have been instructed to give serious importance to disability-friendly arrangements when issuing and renewing licences.”