Following the footsteps of the EU, the Indian government is reportedly also looking to standardise the charging port on smartphones and tablets sold in the country. As per report, all laptops and smartphones sold in India will need to use a common USB-C charging port by June 2025.
New Delhi,UPDATED: Jun 27, 2024 13:27 IST
Similar to the European Union’s (EU) rules announced in 2022, the Indian government is now reportedly considering standardising the charging port of smartphones and tablets sold in India. The new mandate is aimed at making it necessary for all tablets and smartphones sold in India to use a common charging port, according to a report by Livemint. This rule is expected to come into effect by June 2025. The report also suggests that the rule could eventually also apply to laptops sold in the country. The reported rule currently does not include feature phones, audio products, and wearables.
As per the report, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) is likely to soon require device manufacturers to standardise charging ports for smartphones and tablets. This rule will also apply to laptops, but implementation for laptops is expected to start in 2026. The charging port being considered for this mandate is the USB Type-C connector.
The reason behind the rule is reportedly to reduce e-waste that is created by a variety of cables and adapters a user needs when there isn’t a standardisation of charging ports across devices.
Currently, while most Android smartphones use a USB Type-C connector, some tablets and accessories still use a microUSB charger. Apple iPhones have mostly moved to Type-C chargers since the iPhone 15 series, and so have the new iPads. But some models of the MacBook are still using a MagSafe charging, while some have moved to Type-C.
The change in charging ports on Apple devices was pretty much forced on it by the EU’s rule which came out in 2022. The European Union then mandated that USB Type-C needs to be the standard charging port across smartphones, tablets, cameras, audio products, handheld consoles and speakers.
This isn’t the first time that we have heard of such a rule being considered by the Indian government. In November 2022, there was another report by NDTV that claimed a task force was created that included representatives from industry associations, educational institutions, ministries from Varanasi and the Central government, as well as smartphone brands such as Samsung and Apple, that were mulling introducing the rule to standardise charging ports on devices sold in India.
Last year, the Indian government was also pushing Apple to reintroduce older iPhones with USB-C ports, a move Apple argued might hinder its local production goals. This initiative aligned with India's contemplation of the European Union's mandate for universal USB-C charging ports on smartphones.
Currently, there isn’t a solid timeline on when the new mandate will come into effect, but from what we know, this will start to apply for at least smartphones and tablets by June next year. The same rule may soon be introduced for laptops sold in India, but that will reportedly only come into effect by 2026.
Published By:
Nandini Yadav
Published On:
Jun 27, 2024
English (US) ·