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

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

According to Indian Consumer Affairs Minister Rohit Kumar Singh, the Indian government is taking the global supply chain of chargers into account through the directive. “The directive will come into force three months after the European law requiring 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, as no official communication has yet followed.

In October of this year, it became known that the Indian government was in discussions with the tech industry to determine how it would react to a switch to a common charging port on mobile devices. At the time, Singh stated that no binding measures would be imposed yet. India appears to be following the example of the European Union with the directive. This obliges manufacturers to equip new mobile devices with a USB-C port from the autumn 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 Indian government’s measure is also the same in this regard.