The Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA) has constituted a committee of experts under the chairmanship of its Additional Secretary, Mr Bharat Khera, to recommend a robust framework for a Repairability Index to empower consumers and to promote sustainable practices within the tech industry, particularly mobiles and electronic items.

The Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution announced on Tuesday that by developing the Repairability Index, the department seeks to provide consumers with greater transparency on repair information for their products while fostering a more sustainable technology industry.

The committee will submit a comprehensive report, including a framework for the Repairability Index in the Indian context, by 15th November 2024.

A National Workshop on the Right to Repair in the Mobile and Electronics Sector, convened on 29 August this year, brought together industry stakeholders to establish a consensus on the framework for evaluating components for a Repairability Index.

The index could foster longevity in product design, and democratise access to repair information, as well as the availability of spare parts even after products are discontinued, it was agreed.

Mobiles and electronics have the fastest-growing demand and the shortest lifespan. During deliberations at the workshop, it was widely accepted that the framework for the Repairability Index aims to provide consumers with essential information on product repairability, besides seamless access to spare parts to enable informed purchasing decisions.

The Repairability Index will be a consumer-focused indexing that enables consumers to make product-related decisions, based on its repairability. Furthermore, it can standardise the assessment of repairability, making it easier for consumers to compare products based on the repairability index, thereby creating an ecosystem of informed choices across mobile and electronics products.

By standardising the assessment of repairability, the index will create an ecosystem where consumers can easily compare products and choose options that align with the ethos of mindful consumption of products and sustainability. Thus, enabling repair would not only ensure the availability of affordable repair options but also improve consumer satisfaction by bridging information gaps for repairing the products.

Key components of the repair ecosystem include comprehensive repair information on access to repair manuals/DIYs, diagnostics, and a list of necessary tools and parts. It includes accessible spare parts for timely delivery; and inexpensive, widely available, and safe tools for consumers.

The repair ecosystem should have modular designs to ensure key components are independently accessible and economically feasible to keep the cost of repair parts and labour affordable for consumers.

Taking into account these necessities, the committee is expected to recommend enabling framework for policies/rules/guidelines which support repairability and integration of the Repairability Index with extant regulatory provisions in mobile and electronics sector to enhance consumer experiences in reusing the mobile and electronics products they own.

The members of the committee include Mr Anupam Mishra, Joint Secretary, DoCA; senior representatives from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MiETY) and the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME); Dr Alok Kumar Srivastava, Director General National Test House (NTH); Dr A B S Shalini, Director, DoCA; and Mr Pankaj Mohindroo, Chairman, Indian Cellular Electronics Association.

The members include stakeholders from various companies as well. They are Mr Raj Shau, Senior Director and Group leader, Samsung Electronics; Ms Aditi Chaturvedi, Government Affairs and Policy Head for Platform and Devices, Google India; Mr Vasudeep, Head, Enterprise Business (India Region), HMD Mobiles India Pvt. Ltd.; Ms Pushpa Girimaji, Consumer Activist; and other representatives from these companies.