Following the steps of the European Union, India has announced a new rule mandating mobile device companies operating in the country to switch to USB-C standard charging port for all devices by March 2025.
The new rule, which was announced by a civil servant on Tuesday, was set by the State-run Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) as a quality benchmark for the charging port that the department of consumer affairs wants device manufacturers to implement.
“BIS has notified standards for type C chargers and the government will come up with two common types of charging ports for mobiles and wearable electronic devices,” said Rohit Kumar Singh, secretary, ministry of consumer affairs.
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Last year, the European Union Commission proposed legislation to establish a common charging solution for all relevant devices. The Commission said the legislation is key in curbing “e-waste and consumer inconvenience, caused by the prevalence of different, incompatible chargers for electronic devices.” The bloc set a deadline of December 28, 2024 for device manufacturers to comply with the rule, which has been ratified by members and has been approved by the European Parliament.
The Indian government said its 2025 deadline follows the EU’s timeline, and was set after consultation with industry stakeholders about standards and considering global supply chain constraints and availability of products.
Singh said there is a global supply chain at play when it comes to chargers, prompting India to align [itself] with the global timeline.
“There is a broad consensus among the industry and government that the use of USB type C charging ports can be made mandatory after six months of the European Union’s rolling out of standards for USB charging ports in 2024 as electronic manufacturers have a global integrated supply chain,” Singh told ‘Business Standard’.
The new rule was enacted after the Central Consumer Protection Authority formed a sub-group made up of industry representatives, educational institutions and others. The sub-group studied the feasibility of a uniform charging port and agreed last month to a phased rollout of a uniform charging port for effective implementation and easy adoption.
Unused chargers are estimated to pile up to 11,000 tonnes of e-waste every year. In addition, the EU Commission said 38% of consumers complained about their inability to charge their devices due to incompatibility.
Given the environmental concern emanating from e-waste, India’s environment ministry might assess and examine the possible impact of uniform charging ports in electronic devices with regard to e-waste, noted Business Standard.
India is besieged by a lot of environmental concerns dominated by air pollution. The South Asian giant has been making efforts to mitigate the impact in line with global climate goals.
In 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Lifestyle for Environment at the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow. The mission, which is based on the mantra: LiFE calls for “mindful and deliberate utilization” by people worldwide instead of “mindful and wasteful consumption”, appears to be what India is looking to develop starting with USB-C charging ports rule.