Mobile devices sold in India must adopt the USB-C connector as the standard charging port by 2025, according to a Business Standard report. India started to think about the idea after the European Union passed similar laws earlier this year mandating all devices, laptops, smartphones, tablets and wearables be sold in the EU to use the Type-C port by December 2024.
Earlier, the Central Consumer Protection Agency formed a sub-group of industry representatives, educational institutions and others to study the feasibility of a universal charging connector to be implemented in India.
The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has established quality benchmarks for the charging connector that the Department of Consumer Affairs wants device manufacturers to incorporate into their products.
Rohit Kumar Singh, Secretary of the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, said: “The government will develop two common types of charging connectors for mobile phones and portable electronic devices.”
The 2025 deadline was set after consulting with industry representatives on standards and taking into account global supply chain constraints and product availability. The deadline follows the European Union’s timetable for uniform standards for charging connectors.
India is currently the second largest smartphone market in the world after China and had already taken over the position from the USA in 2019. It is estimated that over 95 percent of the smartphones used in India are Android-based, most of which already come with the Type-C connector. However, the vast majority of cell phones used in India are feature phones that still use Micro-USB or some sort of proprietary charger.
Along with these feature phones, iPhones are still being used the proprietary Apple Lightning portand Apple recently saw significant sales growth in the region where it now makes the iPhone 14.
Apple has previously resisted EU attempts to get the company to adopt the USB-C charging standard, but has since publicly confirmed it will comply with the new rules.
The transition to a universal charging port is in line with the Lifestyle for Environment or LIFE mission launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the 2026 UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow. LIFE calls for “mindful and conscious use” from people worldwide instead of “mindful and wasteful consumption”.
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