India wants an EU like common charging standard for electronics, report

India is planning to implement a common charging standard for all electronics devices, reported PTI citing an unnamed official in the Ministry of Consumer Affairs. The report further said that the central government has called a meeting with the industry on August 17 to discuss the possibility of implementing such a standard in India on the lines of the European Union (EU).  

Last month, the EU passed a law that requires all small and medium-sized portable electronics including smartphones, tablets, cameras and earplugs to adopt USB Type-C as the standard charging port by September 2024. PC vendors have been given an extension of additional 40 months, which means it will be enforced on laptops by sometime in January 2028.  

According to the EU, a common charging standard will make electronic devices more sustainable, reduce e-waste and free the users from the hassle of carrying multiple chargers for every portable electronic device.  

Though many smartphone vendors have adopted USB type C standard for charging, many of the low-cost devices are still based on the older micro-USB standard. In the PC industry, every vendor has a proprietary charger even though many mid and high-end laptops also offer an additional USB Type-C connector.  

Some companies such as Apple have started using USB Type-C connectors on iPads for charging even as its iPhones still use the proprietary lightning connector.  

Though USB Type-C is commonly used in smartphones, its adoption for charging laptops has been limited to low power devices as they could not muster power transfer beyond 100W, resulting in charging at a very slow speed.  

However, that is expected to change soon as the new USB Type-C 2.1 cables can deliver up to 240W of power, paving the way for a standard charging connector for laptops.