Government Exploring Adoption of Common Charger for Devices, Meeting on August 17, Says Ministry Official

European Union recently announced the adoption of a USB-C port common charger for small electronic devices by 2024.

By Press Trust of India | Updated: 10 August 2022 13:43 IST

Government Exploring Adoption of Common Charger for Devices, Meeting on August 17, Says Ministry Official

Photo Credit: Pixabay/ Mahesh Patel

The government is exploring the adoption of a common charger for a variety of devices

Highlights

European Union announced the adoption of a USB Type-C port
If India does not push for change, such products might get dumped here
Consumers are forced to buy a separate charger every time

The government is exploring the adoption of a common charger for a variety of devices, including smartphones and tablets, and has called a meeting on August 17 to discuss the issue with the industry, a senior consumer affairs ministry official said on Tuesday.

The meeting with mobile makers and sector-specific organisations has been scheduled to assess the possibility of ending the use of multiple chargers in India and reduce the burden on consumers besides preventing e-waste, the official said.

Recently, the European Union announced the adoption of a USB Type-C port common charging standard for small electronic devices by 2024. A similar demand is in the US as well.

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"If companies can serve in Europe and the US, why cannot they do it in India? Portable electronic devices like smartphones and tablets should have a common charger," the official told PTI.

If India does not push for this change, such products might get dumped here, the official added.

Currently, consumers are forced to buy a separate charger every time they buy a new device due to incompatibility of the ports of the existing charger.

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In June, EU countries and EU lawmakers agreed to a single mobile charging port for mobile phones, tablets and cameras. The agreement is a world first and came after companies failed to agree on a common solution. The European Commission had pushed for a single mobile charging port more than a decade ago.

Users of iPhone smartphones and Android phones have long complained about having to use different chargers for their devices. The former from Apple is charged from a Lightning cable while Android-based devices are powered using USB Type-C connectors.

Half the chargers sold with mobile phones in 2018 had a USB micro-B connector, while 29 percent had a USB Type-C connector, and 21 percent a Lightning connector, according to a 2019 Commission study.

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