"We are obliged to refuse disabled people"

100 thousand times a year in Russia, people with disabilities are violated in Russia. Only a few of them achieve justice

20-year-old Kirill Belousov does not see anything from birth, which did not prevent him from achieving considerable successes in life. The young man graduated from Skillbox courses. Preparing for admission to the RSPU named after Herzen. He works as a programmer in a company creating a system for orientation and informing the blind, developing an iOS application. It also has been in the Paralympic team of Russia in swimming and has been participating in international competitions since 2015. In 2019, he took two second and two -thirds at the World Championships under the auspices of the International Paralympic Committee in London.

This summer, Cyril noted that the MacBook, issued to him by the employer in January 2019, ceases to cope with complex requests, begins to “die” quietly. The programmer was puzzled by the purchase of a new device, more modern and powerful, and most importantly - his own, so as not to depend on the employer. But right away, Kirill was not affordable for the desired MacBook, so he decided to make a purchase in installments.

“After a long search and market analysis, I chose the“ Svyaznoy ”, only there I found the model I needed not on order, but in the store,” says Cyril. -On the Svyaznoy website, I designed installments and received preliminary approval from Alfa Bank.

Then Belousov and his girlfriend (also blind) went for new equipment to the Svyaznoy Salon on 33/3 Novocherkassky Prospekt. A common friend (sighted) went with them to draw up a loan agreement.

“Already in the store I explained to the employee that I can’t fill out the documents on my own because of poor vision, but I’m ready to put my signature,” Cyril continues, “however, he received a categorical refusal to sell.” At first, the wording was this: "We cannot allow an outsider to fill out an agreement for you, even if you stand nearby and sign the papers yourself." Then, after an hour of proceedings and a call to the Service Support Service, the reason changed:

“According to the rules of the agreement between the store and the bank, we are obliged to refuse the loan and installment to the disabled of the first and second group on the basis that they are incompetent!”

I expected anything, but not insults from store employees and support service. Call the incompetent person with a normal psyche, completely healthy (with the exception of the eyes) by the body and a rather impressive monthly income - this is above my patience!

According to the law, a person (over 18 years old) is considered incompetent in Russia if he does not understand the significance of his actions or cannot lead them due to a mental disorder. This must be recognized by the court.

- I officially work in a state sports organization and receive a salary. I have a disability pension, registered for half -time in another company, I have a sports scholarship and additional income from my own programming activities. Can I specifically call me "incompetent" and "insolvent"? - Belousov argues.

As a result, Cyril issued installments and purchased MacBook in another store. But with the help of his mother, to whom he previously issued a general power of attorney with the right signature.

Belousov placed on the Change.org platform the petition "Stop the discrimination of blind people in Russia." On July 16, it was signed by about 40 thousand people.

In the petition, Kirill, first of all, requires answers from the Svyaznoy and Alfa Bank trading network: was guided by what regulations, the store employees operated? Is it allowed to disabled people of the first group to draw up installments and loans at Alfa-Bank? And if prohibited, then on what basis? In addition, the young man appeals to the office of the President of Russia with a request to develop and introduce a law that simplifies the signing of documents with disabilities with vision without involving unauthorized persons and issuing a power of attorney. According to the author of the appeal, for this you can use facsimile or qualified electronic signature.

Help "New"
According to the Ministry of Labor of the Russian Federation, on January 1, 2020, 11.95 million disabled people live in Russia. According to the agency of social information, people with disabilities in the country are at least 15 million. The difference in numbers is explained by the fact that official statistics take into account only by disabled people who have an unimaginated certificate of disability, while people who are also subject to determination of disability, but do not know about it or do not formalize the appropriate status. As of the beginning of 2020, 28.8% of Russian disabled people of working age have stable work.

Novaya sent requests about the incident with Belousov to LLC Svyaznoy LLC and Alfa-Bank. The press service of the bank told us:

“We do not have any discriminatory restrictions on servicing people with disabilities (VIZ). Disability cannot cause a loan refusal. A person with any disability group can become a borrower of Alfa-Bank, the approval of a loan application depends solely on the solvency of the client and compliance with the basic requirements (Russian citizenship, minimum age and the availability of constant income). In the case under consideration, the bank did not receive from the partner company a client’s application for a loan. Apparently, there was a misunderstanding-the next day this client successfully received a loan at Alfa-Bank through another partner. "

The press service of LLC Svyaznoy LLC never responded to the phone’s phone calls and ignored written requests three times. The editors are still waiting for a comment from the company.

Cyril is going to apply to the prosecutor’s office and court in the near future, he has reasons for this. According to lawyers, employees of Svyaznoy, who refused the invisible buyer to purchase goods in installments, violated Federal Law No. 181 “On the Social Protection of Disableders”. According to him, citizens and officials guilty of violation of the rights and freedoms of disabled people must be liable. Such disputes are usually resolved in court.

In general, in Russia, according to the General Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation,

The number of violations of the rights of people with disabilities over the past three years remains stable - about 100 thousand per year. But such cases are extremely rare.

So, in 2015, the scandal in the Nizhny Novgorod region with the 27-year-old sister of the model Natalya Vodianova-Oksana Vodianova, who was diagnosed with autism and cerebral palsy, became widely known. A girl with disabilities was put out of a cafe whose employee-48-year-old Ahmidia Ginyaz oglu Bayramov-considered that due to the appearance of Oksana, the number of visitors may decrease in the institution. As a result, the Bayramovs of the RF IC accused of committing a crime under Part 1 of Art. 282 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation-"Actions aimed at humiliating the dignity of a person on the grounds of belonging to any social group committed publicly."

In St. Petersburg, the prosecutor’s office intervened in the situation in violation of the rights of a disabled person in April 2019. Then the bus driver did not help the person in a wheelchair when landing in the salon, did not lower the ramp and did not delay the movement. The carrier company for this was issued.

Meanwhile, as it turned out, with difficulties in the implementation of financial transactions, people with disabilities are constantly encountered. But not because they are unable to handle an ATM, deal with the contract, put a signature, etc. Namely, because of distrust of disabled people of banks, shops and other companies and organizations where people with disabilities need to make calculations.

- When our wards (they are all capable) come to the bank to withdraw money, and it turns out that they are from PNI, they immediately begin to treat suspicion and distrust. They monitor, check, almost always require permission to remove cash from the head of the PNI or call him to make sure: “Is it possible to receive money on your hands”? - comments on the director of external relations of the St. Petersburg charitable organization "Prospects" Svetlana Mamonova. -Those who are not familiar with the peculiarities of diagnoses, with the concept of “legal capacity and impairness”, is easier to ban anything to a disabled person than to understand the situation.