‘Consumers’ right to repair for 4 sectors’
1 min read . Updated: 14 Mar 2023, 11:03 PM IST
PremiumThe framework aims to ease access to repair services not just by original manufacturers but also by reliable third-party technicians to lower costs and lengthen the shelf life of devices, equipment and home appliances.
New Delhi: The Union government has scaled up its right-to-repair initiative to cover four sectors—consumer durables, electronic devices, automobiles and farm equipment—onboarding leading brands to a unified portal, a senior official said on Tuesday.
The framework aims to ease access to repair services not just by original manufacturers but also by reliable third-party technicians to lower costs and lengthen the shelf life of devices, equipment and home appliances.
When tech products falter, most consumers replace them with newer ones because fixing faulty devices reliably is difficult and expensive, research has shown.
Often, manufacturers either don’t reveal full servicing information or stop repairing old models, prompting consumers to buy replacements, a practice known as planned obsolescence.
“The idea behind the right-to-repair initiative is to build a consumer-centric ecosystem to increase repairability and bring transparency through collaboration," said Nidhi Khare, additional secretary in the consumer affairs ministry. Information on the initiative can be accessed at https://righttorepairindia.gov.in.
Longer lasting products also “tie in with the World Consumer Rights Day 2023 being celebrated on March 15, themed ‘empowering consumers through clean energy transitions’", Khare said.
India is estimated to have generated 5 million tonnes of e-waste in 2022, ranking only behind China and the US, according to an Assocham-EY report.
The portal has so far onboarded brands such as Samsung Ltd, Honda Ltd, Kent RO Systems Ltd, Havells Ltd, Hewlett Packard Enterprise India and Hero MotoCorp Ltd.
It also seeks to streamline trade between original-equipment manufacturers and third-party sellers.
“In the West, this is an ongoing battle between firms and consumer-right activists, with governments becoming sensitive to a demand for reliable repairs," said Sajid Ali of the Internet Consumers’ Forum, a Banglarore-based NGO. The EU is in the process of establishing a “right to repair" with a view to save costs for consumers and facilitating a circular economy, Ali said.
In the US, President Biden in 2021 had issued an executive order that “included a directive for limits on how tech manufacturers could restrict repairs", according to a New York Times report.