The Government of India is planning to introduce a common charging solution for wearable devices, reports PTI, citing an unnamed senior official at the Department of Consumer Affairs. It means that the Indian government could make it mandatory for all the upcoming wearables (such as smartwatches and wireless earbuds) in the country to have the same charging solution.
Currently, there’s no info about the proposed charging solution. We don’t even know if it is going to be wired or wireless. But we hope that the government adopts a charging solution that’s already available in the market and used by a wide number of devices, such as Qi-based wireless charging. Almost all smartphones with wireless charging support the Qi standard, and there are a number of Qi wireless chargers already available in the market.
Samsung might have to comply with a more common charging solution for Galaxy Watches in India
At the moment, most brands, including Apple and Samsung, offer proprietary wireless charging solutions for their smartwatches. If the Indian government passes the law for a common charging solution for wearables, these brands will have to move away from their proprietary charging solutions and offer the one introduced by the Government of India. This would be a big step for these brands, and it would require fundamental changes to the product design.
Of course, a lot can change with this plan. Lobbying from consumer technology brands is quite common, and India may or may not bring this mandate, and it could even postpone such decisions if it sees a lot of pushback from brands.
The Indian government has also been planning to make the USB Type-C port the common charging solution on smartphones, tablets, and laptops sold in the country. It will be taking this step to align India with the European Union’s law which mandates the usage of the USB Type-C port on all phones starting in 2024. Speaking of which, the government has also announced that it has come up with standards for the USB Type-C charging port, but its details are still under wraps.
