Accessibility of digital dispatch for individuals with disabilities

(a) By January 1, 2016, a company that provides digital dispatch shall: (1) Ensure that the company’s websites and mobile applications are accessible to the blind and visually impaired and the deaf and hard of hearing; and (2) Provide a report to the Council’s Committee on Transportation and the Environment, or its successor committee with oversight of for-hire vehicles, on how the company intends to increase access to wheelchair-accessible public or private vehicle-for-hire service to individuals with disabilities. (b) A company that provides digital dispatch shall not: (1) Impose additional or special charges on an individual with a disability for providing services to accommodate the individual; or (2) Require an individual with a disability to be accompanied by an attendant. (c) If an operator accepts a ride request through digital dispatch from a passenger with a disability who uses a mobility device, upon picking up the passenger, the operator shall stow the passenger’s mobility equipment in the vehicle if the vehicle is capable of stowing the equipment. If a passenger or operator determines that the vehicle is not capable of stowing the equipment, the company that provides digital dispatch shall not charge a trip cancellation fee or, if such fee is charged, shall provide the passenger with a refund in a timely manner.