India is planning a repairability index for mobile phones and electronics products to address the ever-increasing problem of e-waste and to encourage manufacturers to produce more easily repairable items. The Ministry of Consumer Affairs is planning this initiative, which will provide scores for key criteria to inform consumers of how easily a product can be repaired. With India emerging as the world's third largest economy, it is imperative that we have a dynamic and tech-savvy repair system. He added that India has the potential to become a repair hub for the world. The proposed index will be similar to initiatives in other countries. Like France also has a repairability index. It will rate products on criteria including availability of technical documents, ease of disassembly, availability of spare parts and pricing. The objective of the workshop was to establish consensus among stakeholders on “key parameters for accessing and evaluating the repairability index”, besides promoting longevity in product design and their Repair information was to be made more transparent to enhance customer experiences for reusing proprietary mobile and electronics products. Emphasis was placed on transparent and cost-effective repair solutions, consumer awareness and providing greater support to repair shops at the local level. He also mentioned that France's Repairability Index rates products on five criteria, while the European Union has different standards. Ajay Chowdhury, founder of HCL Technologies, also demanded legislation for change. Today most products cannot be repaired. We need to design products that can be repaired, the situation will not change until legislation is enacted.
Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).
Solution for e-waste disposal: India plans to introduce reparability index to tackle e-waste problem
