“Neither thin, neither wide, nor small” is what the Indian government proposes for all small and medium portable devices like mobiles, laptops, wearables like watches, and tablets.
But India isn’t the first country to have this brainwave.
The idea of a universal charger is inspired by the European Union’s port USB-C common charging standard. You may no longer need to detangle different chargers for your laptop, smartphone, and tablet. And this includes the likes of Apple as well.
It makes sense to be inspired by the European Union, given how well their attempts at a universal currency are doing within Europe itself. The EU believes this could help consumers save up to €250 million a year. If companies can serve in Europe and the US, why can it not be done in India?
The reason for enforcing a universal charger is to avoid the frantic combination of USB Type-C, USB on the Go, and the charger for that millennial Nokia phone so you can still play Snake for free, along with reducing e-waste and saving costs for the users.
The Indian government is keen on imposing such a policy because all the old and dusty chargers create a lot of electronic waste. And today, who can argue against anything being inflicted in the name of climate change?
The policy must include clubbing electronic devices based on power requirements to take the proposal forward. For your record, India had 22,700 tonnes of e-waste in FY17, but that figure surged to a staggering 350,000 tonnes in FY21. There’s an estimate that 90–95% of this waste makes its way into the informal sector.
However, many mobile phone manufacturers are not too gung-ho about this universal charger as this could make phones cheaper. And, if consumers have a standard charger across devices, they’ll buy fewer chargers.
Besides, India is not a convenient market for standardised products; three-quarters of the products we buy are to show off to our neighbours and family. The poignant romance between a user and multiple charging cords will undoubtedly be lost.
Most companies have invested good money in optimising their chargers, but this move may impact consumers negatively by stifling innovation. Global manufacturers won’t be able to aggressively market their fast-charging capabilities since a regular charger will force them to ditch their proprietary advancement.
Indian manufacturers, on the other hand, believe adopting a general charging specification will increase costs across the board – and if the production feature phones can’t pass on the cost to consumers, they may have to abandon their product lines entirely.
Apple, in particular, would hit hard, as in the EU’s case. Its iPhones are accustomed to using the Lighting port for charging, which requires a different cable than most Android phones in the market that has all switched to USB Type-C charging ports. Most devices have a Type-C port at the bottom, so they can use the chargers interchangeably.
So yes, contrasting beliefs like a standard charger policy will help consumers greatly, but a few reservations have also been occupying consumers’ minds. While India does ban the import of e-waste, it still makes its way into the country under the garb of revamped goods.
However, suppose the nation has a common standard imposed already. In that case, we could stop India from turning into a dumping ground and turn away any refurbished chargers that don’t fit users’ new mandate because nobody needs them anymore.
The gains for universal chargers are clear, as are the transition costs. In the search for a standard charger, will we give up the sparks generated by mixed chargers?
