Prabhu RamThe Department of Consumer Affairs under Government of India has set up a committee to develop a comprehensive framework for the RTR in the country. The sectors identified during the first committee meeting include Farming Equipment, Mobile Phones/ Tablets, Consumer Durables and Automobiles/Automobile Equipment. This comes a month after Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the LiFE movement (Lifestyle for Environment), which is a concept of reusing and recycling consumer products.
Globally, the RTR has already forced tech giants such as Microsoft and Apple, which resisted this for long, to embrace the movement. In July last year, the American President’s executive order urged the Federal Trade Commission to look at unfair practices that stifle competition with regard to third-party and self-repairs.
“The ‘RTR’ is no longer a rallying call that brings together a few tech-aware consumers, but rather an inevitable move towards ensuring sustainability. India’s move to create a comprehensive ‘RTR’ framework is a timely move. It will unlock legal/technical restrictions, and enable repair centres, new entrepreneurs, and consumers to repair devices that consumers own, in a timely, safe and cost-effective manner.”
Prabhu Ram, Head of Industry Intelligence Group (IIG), CyberMedia Research (CMR)
Source: Business Today
