Government May Announce Common Charger Rule for Smartphones, Tablets Sold in India Starting in 2025: Report

The common charger rules will reportedly exclude basic feature phones and wearable devices such as smartwatches.

Written by Shaurya Tomer, Edited by David Delima | Updated: 25 June 2024 16:54 IST

Government May Announce Common Charger Rule for Smartphones, Tablets Sold in India Starting in 2025: Report

Photo Credit: Unsplash/Lucian Alexe

The government's common charger mandate will reportedly come into effect in June 2025

Highlights

Devices sold in India may soon have to feature a USB Type-C port
The mandate is said to include smartphones and tablets sold from 2025
The mandate could also be enforced on laptops from 2026

Smartphones sold in India will require a standardised charging connector which is likely to be the widely-used USB Type-C port, according to a report. This new rule is said to be aimed at enabling users to use a single cable to charge multiple devices – a measure to reduce e-waste, similar to the mandate issued by the European Union (EU) in 2022 that goes into effect at the end of this year. The government could also mandate the use of a Type-C port to charge laptops at a later date.

Standarised USB Type-C Port

Citing people familiar with the matter, Livemint reports that the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) may soon direct device manufacturers to include uniform charging ports in smartphones and tablets. This directive is also said to include laptops, but that rule will reportedly come into effect from 2026. The charging port in discussion is speculated to be the modern USB Type-C connector.

According to the report, the purported mandate won't include wearable devices such as smartwatches and basic feature phones. This move will reportedly come into effect starting June 2025, and is said to be aimed at reducing the e-waste generated by multiple types of cables used by devices, enabling the user to charge all their devices with one cable.

[Sponsored] Samsung Galaxy S24: The Ultimate Camera Phone With Smarter On-Device AI

The EU also passed a similar mandate in 2022, making USB Type-C the standard charging port across hardware such as smartphones, tablets, cameras, headphones and headsets, handheld video-game consoles and portable speakers. This move forced Apple to replace its proprietary lightning port with USB Type-C, starting with the iPhone 15 series in 2023.

In November 2022, the government reportedly reached a consensus to adopt USB Type-C as the standard method of charging. Following a meeting with stakeholders from the industry, Consumer Affairs Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh said at the time, “During the meeting, a broad consensus emerged among stakeholders on adoption of USB Type-C as a charging port for electronic devices such as smartphones, tablets and laptops.”

While no timeframe was mentioned at the time, it seems India is now gearing up to announce its common charger rules. The recent report also suggests that, MeitY will provide six months of additional time to “ensure compliance” by all the stakeholders.

Is the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 the best foldable phone you can buy in India right now? We discuss the company's new clamshell-style foldable handset on the latest episode of Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.

iPhone 15

REVIEW
KEY SPECS
NEWS

Design
Display
Software
Performance
Battery Life
Camera
Value for Money

Good
Big upgrades over the 14
Excellent ergonomics, build quality
Very good all-round performance
Apple ecosystem benefits

Bad
Relatively slow charging
Expensive
Still a 60Hz display

Read detailed Apple iPhone 15 review

Display 6.10-inch

Processor Apple A16 Bionic

Front Camera 12-megapixel

Rear Camera 48-megapixel + 12-megapixel

RAM 6GB

Storage 128GB, 256GB, 512GB

OS iOS 17

Resolution 1179x2556 pixels

More Apple mobiles Apple mobiles price in India

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.

Further reading: USB Type C, USB Type C Port, Smartphones, Tablets, India

Shaurya Tomer

Email Shaurya Tomer

Shaurya Tomer is a Sub Editor at Gadgets 360 with 2 years of experience across a diverse spectrum of topics. With a particular focus on smartphones, gadgets and the ever-evolving landscape of artificial intelligence (AI), he often likes to explore the industry's intricacies and innovations – whether dissecting the latest smartphone release or exploring the ethical implications of AI advancements. In his free time, he often embarks on impromptu road trips to unwind, recharge, and ...More