Government May Implement Common Charger Rule for Smartphones, Tablets Sold in India

A standard charging connector rule may be implemented for smartphones sold in the country. This is likely to be a USB Type-C port. The aim of the new rule is to allow users to use a single cable to charge multiple devices. This will reduce e-waste.

This type of rule will come into force in the European Union (EU) from the end of this year. The central government can implement this rule from next year. A media Report It has been reported that the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology may soon direct device manufacturers to provide similar chargers in smartphones and tablets. Laptops can also be included in this directive. This charging port can be USB Type-C. This report says that this will not apply to wearable devices like smartwatches.

This rule can be implemented from June next year. Its aim is to reduce e-waste due to the cables used in the devices. The EU has also made a rule for standard charging ports for smartphones, headphones, tablets, cameras, handheld video game consoles and portable speakers. Due to this rule, American devices maker Apple was forced to replace its proprietary Lightning port with USB Type-C with the iPhone 15 series last year.

The government had agreed to adopt USB Type-C as the standard method of charging after a meeting with industry stakeholders in November 2022. In this meeting, it was decided to use USB Type-C as a charging port for devices like smartphones, laptops and tablets. However, no timeline was given for implementing this rule. The rule of common charger can be announced by the government soon. An additional period of six months can also be given to ensure compliance with this rule. This rule was initially opposed by some device makers but later after pressure from the government, they agreed to follow it.