Common charger for all mobile phones in India? Govt to setup expert team

The Indian government plans to adopt the EU's common charger policy. In other words, the country may soon have a policy of a common charger for all mobile phones (regardless of the brand) and other portable electronic devices. According to a report coming from PTI, the Indian government will soon set up expert groups to explore the adoption of common chargers for mobiles and all portable electronic devices, a policy that has already been approved by the EU.

The adoption of a common charger in the country may happen in a bid to address issues related to e-waste and provide relief to consumers. The decision to set up an expert team was reportedly taken after an hour-long meeting with stakeholders, chaired by Consumer Affairs Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh.

As per PTI, the meeting was attended by Electronics Products Innovation Consortium (EPIC) Foundation Chairman and HCL Founder Ajai Chowdhury; Manufacturers' Association of Information Technology (MAIT) President Rajkumar Rishi; India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA) Chairman Pankaj Mohindroo; Consumer Electronics and Appliances Manufacturers Association (CEAMA) President Eric Braganza; and Indian Electrical and Electronics Manufacturers' Association (IEEMA) President Vipul Ray.

At the end of the meeting, Singh said that the common charger policy is a "complex issue". "India has a position in manufacturing of chargers. We have to understand everybody's perspective — industry, the users, manufacturers and environment — before taking a final decision," he added.

During the meeting, each stakeholder shared different perspectives and evaluated the impact of shifting to a common charger on the industry, consumers as well as the environment. Most stakeholders said that there is a need to evaluate the impact of the common charger policy as India is a manufacturer and exporter of chargers to many countries. It was also said that the policy, if at all comes into effect, should not be forced upon them as many people use low-cost feature phones in India, and shifting to a common charger may increase the price of feature phones.

Singh also said that India could initially think of shifting to two types of chargers — USB Type-C and some other chargers. Now, given these complexities, Singh said "we have decided to form expert groups to study and submit recommendations within two months." He explained that separate expert groups will be formed to study charging ports used in three segments: mobile and feature phones, laptops and tablets, and wearable electronic devices.

In June, European Union (EU) lawmakers reached an agreement forced all future smartphones sold in the market to be equipped with a universal USB-C port. In simple words, all phones, regardless of the brand, launching after the fall of 2024 in the market will need to come with a USB-C port. The rule also applies to Apple iPhones, which currently come with a lightning port. Now, reports already suggest that Apple is working on iPhones with USB-C port in them. Given some countries are evaluating adopting the common charger policy, we can expect iPhones in 2023 or 2024 to ditch the lightning port for USB-C.

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