India requires USB-C charging port in mobile devices from March 2025

The Indian government is said to have passed a directive requiring mobile electronic devices to have a USB-C charging port from March 2025. The government would also consider a mandatory charging port for wearables.

According to India’s Consumer Affairs Minister, Rohit Kumar Singh, the Indian government is taking into account the global supply chain of chargers through the directive. “The directive comes into force three months after the European law, which requires a USB-C port for mobile devices”, says the Indian newspaper The Economic Times. “The goal is to reduce the number of chargers per household and thereby also limit the amount of e-waste.” The Indian government is also said to have put together a team to consider a possible mandatory charging port for wearables, such as smartwatches. It is not clear which connections are being considered, because no official communication has yet followed.

In October of this year it was already known that the Indian government was in talks with the tech industry to find out how they feel about a switch to a common charging port on mobile devices. Then Singh stated that no binding measures would be imposed yet. India seems to be following the example of the European Union with the directive. This requires manufacturers to equip new mobile devices with a USB-C port from the fall of 2024. The EU wants all mobile devices to be able to be charged with the same charger. This should lead to less electronic waste. For the time being, the upcoming EU legislation only applies to small and medium-sized portable electronic devices. It is not clear whether the measure taken by the Indian government is also the same in this regard.