Explained: What it Right to Repair, how it help consumers and more

What is Right to Repair?

Right to Repair gives consumers access to affordable repair mobile phones, appliances and other electronic devices by original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) or third-party repairers. The aim is to offer a cheaper alternative to expensive replacements to the customers, instead of buying new products altogether.

As mentioned above, important sectors for the initial focus of the framework are farming equipment, mobile phones & tablets, consumer durables, automobiles & automobile equipment.

The Department of Consumer Affairs set up a committee to come up with a Right to Repair framework on the lines of the LiFE (Lifestyle For Environment) initiative launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 

How will Right to Repair portal help consumers?

With the Right to Repair portal, the government aims to protect consumers against planned obsolescence i.e. designing a product with limited life resulting in increasing e-waste. The portal is also aimed to address the concerns on the price, originality and warranty of spare parts. It will enable consumers to be better informed about the product by mentioning methods to check authenticity of spare parts and information on country of origin. The link of the portal is https://righttorepairindia.gov.in/.

The portal will carry information for enabling consumers to self-repair, knowing about authorized repairers and promoting third party repairers. 

What brands are registered on Right to Repair portal?

Currently, 17 brands are registered on Right to Repair portal. The list includes companies from automotive, smartphone and consumer durables industries. These are Apple, Samsung, Realme, Oppo, HP, Boat, Panasonic, LG, Kent, Havells, Microtek, Luminous among others. Automobile companies like Hero Motocorp and Honda Motorcycle are also registered on the portal.