Label the use, not the device: a government proposal on mainstream tech and disability

India recognises an assistive device by what it was built to be, not by what it does for the person using it. A smartwatch that alerts a deaf user when their phone is ringing is not on the list and is taxed as an ordinary consumer electronic. Manmeet Nanda , Additional Secretary, Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DePwD), floated a way around this at a report launch on September 23.