A European decision that is emulated. The USB Type-C charging port should be offered on all smartphones by March 2025 in India. The information has just been confirmed by the Bureau of Indian Standards, the Indian Standards Bureau or BIS, relayed by the magazine Outlook India.
Two types of chargers
The government has specified the new charging standards for the next few years in India. After numerous consultations with the industries in the sector, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs has reached a consensus. The authorities are considering making two types of charging port mandatory: the universal Type-C charger for smartphones and tablets and a common charger, still under discussion, for other portable electronic devices.
“In the last meeting, there was a broad consensus among stakeholders on the adoption of USB Type-C as the charging port for smartphones, tablets, laptops, etc. BIS Notified Standards for Type-C Chargers“, said Rohit Kumar Singh, secretary at the Ministry of Consumer Affairs.
A calendar indexed to that of the EU
Manufacturers will have to integrate the charging port before March 2025. A schedule that takes into account the global supply chain and the deadline set by Europe. As a reminder, the 27 EU countries agreed in June to impose the universal type C wired charger by autumn 2024 for smartphones and other mobile devices. For computers, the use of type C should be generalized by 2026.
India is therefore following the EU timetable to impose its rules on manufacturers. “There is a broad consensus between industry and government that the use of USB Type-C charging ports can be made mandatory six months after the European Union rolls out USB charging port standards, in 2024, as electronics manufacturers have an integrated global supply chain“, detailed Rohit Kumar Singh to Standard Business. The environmental impact of the e-waste measure will be analyzed in a study by the Indian Ministry of Environment, the senior official said.
Apple reluctant to abandon Lightning
In India, 96% of smartphones run on Android, according to Insider. Apple comes in second place with 3.1% market share. The Cupertino company is quite reluctant to transition to USB C. The end of the proprietary Lightning port, which still equips the iPhone 14, is experienced as a technological regression.
Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing, confirms that the manufacturer will “obviously […] comply” to the laws, in a video interview during the conference Tech Live from wall street journal. Apple”has nothing against governments telling us what they want to achieve“, but Apple’s engineers are “pretty smart“and have already found better ways to do things,” he says.