Smartphone companies and industry associations have agreed on a phased rollout of a uniform charging port for all electronic devices, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs reported on Wednesday.
A subgroup will be established to explore the feasibility of unified charging ports for wearables, it said.
This was decided during a discussion in the inter-departmental task force meeting chaired by Secretary of State for Consumer Affairs Rohit Kumar Singh here.
The representatives of industry associations such as MAIT, FICCI, CII, educational institutions including IIT Kanpur, IIT (BHU), Varanasi, as well as the ministries of the central government including the Ministry of Environment attended the meeting.
“Stakeholders agreed that a phased roll-out of the common charging port can take place so that the same can be adopted by the industry and adopted harmoniously by consumers,” an official statement said.
At the meeting, a broad consensus emerged among stakeholders on the adoption of USB Type-C as a charging port for electronic devices such as smartphones, tablets, laptops, etc. It was further considered to use a different charging port for feature phones, it noted.
“The industry must overcome inertia in adopting a unified charging port in the interests of consumer welfare and preventing avoidable e-waste,” the secretary said at the meeting.
The Department of Consumer Affairs has also decided to set up a subgroup that will investigate the feasibility of a uniform charging port for wearables. The sub-group will consist of representatives of industry associations, educational institutions, etc.
There was also a feeling that an impact study could be conducted by the Ministry of the Environment to assess and investigate the potential impact of uniform charging ports in electronic devices regarding e-waste, the statement said.
The uniformity in charging ports is a step towards the LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment) mission launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at COP-26, which calls for ‘mindful and intentional use’ by people around the world rather than ‘ mindful and wasteful consumption’.
The LiFE mission intends to create and nurture a global network of individuals, namely ‘Pro-Planet People’ (P3), who have a shared commitment to adopting and promoting an environmentally friendly lifestyle.