Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Piyush Goyal launched a host of new initiatives, including the ‘right to repair’ portal and opened new premises of National Consumer Helpline centre in the national capital.

These initiatives were launched on the occasion of the National Consumer Day on December 24. 

On the ‘right to repair’ portal, manufacturers will share the manual of product details with customers so that they can either repair by self, by third parties, rather than depend on original manufacturers. 

Initially, mobile phones, electronic, consumer durables, automobile and farming equipment will be covered.

What is right to repair?

• Generally, manufacturers retain proprietary control over spare parts, including their design, and this kind of monopoly on repair processes infringes the customer’s ‘right to choose’.

• Also, warranty cards of several products mention that getting them repaired from an outfit not recognised by the makers would lead to customers losing their warranty benefit.

• The rationale behind the ‘right to repair’ is that when we buy a product, it is inherent that we must own it completely for which the consumers should be able to repair and modify the product with ease and at reasonable cost, without being captive to the whims of manufacturers for repairs. 

• However, over a period of time it has been observed that the right to repair is getting severely restricted, and not only there is a considerable delay in repair but at times the products are repaired at an exorbitantly high price and the consumer who has once bought the product is hardly given any choice. 

• Often the spare parts are not available, which causes consumers great distress and harassment.

• The right to repair for consumer goods refers to the concept of allowing end users, consumers as well as businesses, to repair devices they own or service without any manufacturer or technical restrictions. 

• The right to repair portal provides warranty and post-sales information, provided by the consumer brands, to consumers in India.

• The ministry of consumer affairs has set up a committee, chaired by Nidhi Khare, to come up with a right to repair framework. The framework is significant as it will give consumers a chance to repair their products at an optimal cost instead of buying new products altogether.

• The important sectors for the initial focus of the framework are farming equipment, mobile phones and tablets, consumer durables, automobiles and automobile equipment.

• Under this framework, it would be mandatory for manufacturers to share their product details with customers so that they can either repair them by self or by third parties, rather than only depending on original manufacturers. 

• It will become a game-changer both for the sustainability of the products and as well as serve as a catalyst for employment generation by allowing third-party repairs.

• The framework also aims to help harmonize the trade between the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), third-party buyers and sellers, thus also creating new jobs.

• It will help reduce the vast mountain of electronic waste (e-waste) that piles up each year on the continent and boost business for small repair shops, which are an important part of local economies.

• It will save consumers’ money and contribute to circular economy objectives by improving the life span, maintenance, re-use, upgrade, recyclability, and waste handling of appliances.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched the concept of LiFE movement (Lifestyle for Environment) in India. This includes the concept of reuse and recycling various consumer products.

• Repair is a critical function of all forms of re-use and even for the sustainable life of the products. 

• A product that cannot be repaired or falls under planned obsolescence — designing a product with an artificially limited useful life.

• Thus, restricting the repair of products forces consumers to deliberately make a choice to purchase a new model of that product.

Right to repair in other countries

• The right to repair has been recognised in many countries across the globe, including the United States, United Kingdom and the European Union.

• In the US, the Federal Trade Commission has directed manufacturers to remedy unfair anti-competitive practices and asked them to make sure that consumers can make repairs, either themselves or by a third-party agency.

• Recently, the UK has also passed a law that includes all the electronic appliance manufacturers to provide the consumers with spare parts for getting the repair done either by themselves or by the local repair shops. 

• In Australia, repair cafes are a remarkable feature of the Australian system. These are free meeting places where volunteer repairmen gather to share their repairing skills. 

• Further, the European Union passed legislation that required manufacturers to supply parts of products to professional repairmen for a time of 10 years.

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