MOSCOW, October 29 (RAPSI) – Russia’s Federal Ombudsman Tatiana Moskalkova when presenting a report on Thursday demanded to toughen fines for violations in the sphere of barrier free environment for physically challenged people.

In 20 months, from January 1, 2019 to August 1, 2020, she received 224 complaints about such breaches, including absence of wheelchair ramps, low banisters, tight doorways and others, according to the report.

The Ombudsman calls existing penalties for such violations too low to prevent violations in this field.

Currently, failures to provide comfortable infrastructure conditions for citizens with disabilities are punished with administrative fines from 2,000 to 3,000 rubles ($25– 37) for officials and from 20,000 to 30,000 rubles ($250 – 370 million) for legal entities.

As of January 1, 2020, there are about 11.8 million people with disabilities in Russia, including 5.2 million men and 6.6 million women.