Making device repairs cool again

Repairability Index promises a sustainable future for electronic devices; will policy and consumers align?

A parliamentary committee recently proposed a Repairability Index focusing on electronic devices such as mobile phones and tablets. The intent is to promote informed purchasing decisions by consumers about the repairability of these devices. The initiative has the potential to enhance the circular economy and complement India’s efforts to establish a manufacturing base in electronics.

As per this regime, Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) must self-declare the Repairability Index on a five-point scale based on standardised scoring criteria. This information should be displayed at the point of sale/purchase to enable consumers to make informed choices. Smartphones and tablets are the first products that are expected to comply with the new regime.

The committee working on the index has identified priority parts for smartphones and tablets that are most prone to failure, such as the battery, display assembly, and camera assembly. Repairability is assessed for each of these parts based on six core parameters: disassembly depth, repair information, timely availability of spare parts, software updates, tools, and fasteners. The overall index for the device is a weighted aggregate of the repairability of its components.

The index is a light-touch policy instrument that does not require heavy government resources to enforce. It relies on manufacturers' self-declaration and imposes no additional compliance requirements on them. Consumers typically have less information about the repairability of devices, and this index seeks to provide them with the necessary information.

Manufacturers often have a near-monopoly on repairs by restricting access to parts, tools, and information necessary for repairs. This limitation reduces consumer choice, increases costs, and contributes to e-waste. If you have ever wondered why replacing a cracked screen on a phone costs almost as much as buying a new one, you have experienced this issue first-hand.

This regime is expected to boost the “right to repair” which originated as a grassroots movement against manufacturer-imposed restrictions on repairing vehicles such as cars and tractors. Eventually, it grew to encompass the idea that hardware owners must be able to fix what they own.

While the movement had started as one about the user's property rights and their freedom to make changes to the things they own, it has expanded to include ideas of sustainability, local economic activity, and anti-monopolistic behaviour.

Risks and incentives

There are four distinct perspectives from which to view this development. First, will there be market demand for repairable products? Repairability might come at the cost of aesthetics or functionality, like water resistance. Brands have spent decades trying to create the consumer behaviour of frequent upgrades, and rewiring this behaviour will not be easy. Second, if this works well, we should see the development of a new circular economy over time. Repair services tend to be localised in nature, so this could lead to the creation of an entire category of businesses and jobs. Over time, this may lead to moving up the value chain, with new manufacturing and design capabilities also emerging.

Third, this is a good move from a sustainability perspective. India is the third-largest generator of e-waste behind the US and China. A key driver of e-waste is the consumption of electronic devices, and as per-capita income and consumption grow, this will only worsen. Lastly, for manufacturers, the primary concern is that IP will be at risk, particularly since Indian protection for copyright and IP is weak. The job of ensuring credibility and policing fakes could end up falling on intermediaries such as retailers, which imposes unnecessary economic costs.

A repairability index is a good first step that can drive real change with minimal regulatory overhead. While there may be concerns about the voluntary nature of this reporting and the incentives for manufacturers to overstate their capabilities, these concerns will be alleviated as consumers adopt the index and vote with their wallets.

However, creating an index alone will not be enough. It needs to be complemented by awareness campaigns that can steer people into considering repair over upgrade wherever possible. Making repairs viable again may be key to switching consumer behaviour.

Depending on the success of this idea, policymakers should ensure that manufacturing schemes like PLI, especially in consumer electronics, eventually focus on supporting manufacturers who make upgradeable and repairable devices. Other jurisdictions like the EU, the UK and the US have already passed regulations focusing on the right to repair and mandate that manufacturers support this right with spares and repair services. This provides an excellent opportunity for India to become the preferred destination for firms to manufacture such products.

(The writers are researchers with the high-tech geopolitics programme at the Takshashila Institution)