Repairability Index — A Step Towards Right To Repair In India

The Department of Consumer Affairs, under the central government, recently constituted a committee to recommend a framework for the implementation of "Repairability Index" or RI within the technology industry.

An official release in September, which confirmed the constitution of the committee, states that the objective of RI is to enable consumers to take product related decisions based on their repairability, and to promote sustainability through mindful consumption and fostering longevity in product design.

As seen from above, RI serves two-fold purpose of empowering consumers and protecting environment. On the consumer front, the index enables the consumer with a choice to compare products based on their repairability.

Further, RI would result in creation of a repair ecosystem whereby the consumer would receive repair related information, accessible spare parts, affordable tools, and repair services.

On the environment front, RI enables mindful consumption and sustainable practices resulting in longer utilisation of products, recycling of products and reduction of waste, more particularly electronic waste.

Additionally, RI can also disincentivise product obsolescence i.e., failure of a product within a set duration and the inability to remedy such failure due to lack of repair information, unavailability of spare parts or after sale support.

The committee tasked with recommending a framework on RI can take the benefit of the recent Anti-Waste Law introduced by France in 2020, whereby RI was rolled out for select appliance. Through the said legislation, a number (out of 10) is displayed on the product or its packaging, which will inform the consumer of its repairability index.

The committee may also look at a construct of granting star labels to electronic products on the basis of their repairability akin to existing framework in India for assessment of energy efficiency of certain appliances.

A seamless implementation of RI framework will require setting up of standards that can determine RI at a product level. In this regard, the committee may consider setting up an independent entity which will determine RI after verifying the information supplied by the product manufacturer.

Alternatively, the RI may be disclosed by the manufacturers themselves, and the committee may empower a body to examine the authenticity of such self-disclosure.

It will also be important for the committee to bear in mind that RI may not always remain constant. For instance, a product launched in 2024 may have RI of 8 out of 10, whereas the same product, when sold in 2028, may have RI of 4 due to reduced repair ecosystem offered by the manufacturer. However, the said product will continue to be labelled with the original RI of 8 as placed at the time of its production. Hence, the framework must consider a system to update RI at regular intervals.

The committee may also look at avenues to educate consumers of the concept and benefits of RI. Once the consumers understand its relevance in decision-making, the benefits of RI will be fully realised.

Lastly, while RI is predominantly a consumer-centric initiative, it can significantly enable India in its pursuit of achieving the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals. This can be done by fostering a culture of mindful consumption and reduction of e-waste, which are possibilities that RI can unfold.

In this regard, a recent study by United Nations Institute for Training and Research has revealed that 4.6 billion kilogram of small IT and telecommunication equipment (including laptops, mobile phones, GPS devices and routers) was generated in 2022 alone, of which only 22% is documented as formally collected and recycled. With RI fostering better longevity, the above figures are likely to undergo positive revision.

To conclude, the attempt to formulate a framework of RI is commendable. One can hope that the index would soon be implemented.