A mobile phone app that recommends restaurants for people with disabilities and was developed with Taipei City Government subsidies has come under fire from Taipei City Councilor Kao Chia-yu (高嘉瑜), who said the app was “useless” and called on the Department of Social Welfare to rescind subsidy grants to the app’s developer.
Kao made the remarks last week with representatives from disability rights groups, saying that the majority of the restaurants that are recommended by the “Friendly Taipei Good Restaurant” app have no facilities that accommodate disabled people.
She said the app offered few affordable dining options and the majority of its recommendations were department store food courts or high-priced restaurants.
The developer, Chung Social Enterprises, had received about NT$3 million (US$93,095) from the Taipei Department of Social Welfare to develop the app, Kao said, adding that the company also charges each restaurant a certification fee ranging from NT$6,000 to NT$10,000.
“It is evident that Chung Social Enterprises is merely a for-profit enterprise and not the social enterprise it presents itself to be,” she said, adding that the Department of Social Welfare should cut off its subsidies immediately, because the company had “done nothing to improve things for disabled people.”
Liao Chiu-fen (廖秋芬), head of the department’s Division of Welfare Services for the Disabled, denied any wrongdoing by the department, saying the subsidies were granted via a legal, transparent process.
Chung Social Enterprises manager Lin Chung-wei (林崇偉) said that his company’s app promotes “disabled-friendly” restaurants and not “barrier-free” establishments, citing current laws that restrict “barrier-free restaurant” status to establishments with an interior space of more than 300m2.
Lin said that there are objective standards that an establishment must meet to be called a “disabled-friendly” restaurant, such as the inclusion of ramps or a flat surface at the entrance, flat corridors that are easy to navigate, furniture that can be moved, comfortable seats and helpful staff.
Lin added that Chung Social Enterprises charges certification fees on the Department of Social Welfare’s recommendation, citing the government’s hope that it can become an independent business.
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