Why India needs to legitimise 'Repair' as a consumer right

For India, this goes beyond consumer protection to preserving the repair-reuse culture and protecting the skills and livelihoods sustaining it for generations

A phone that once lasted five or six years now needs replacing every two years. A laptop that could be used for seven or eight years often becomes obsolete within three or four. Even when consumers want to repair their devices, spare parts are frequently unavailable. And when repairs are offered through authorised service centres, the costs are often so high that buying a new product seems like the more sensible option.

These are common frustrations faced by consumers across electronics, household appliances and other consumer durables. They are not isolated incidents but symptoms of a larger systemic problem.

This is where the right to repair becomes critical. Repairing a device can involve anything from replacing a cracked phone screen to fixing software glitches or restoring worn-out components. At its core, repair extends the lifespan of products, reduces waste and conserves valuable resources. It also delivers environmental benefits by cutting e-waste and reducing the energy and raw materials required to manufacture new products.

Yet, in the absence of a robust repair framework or legislation, many companies design products around “planned obsolescence”—a practice where products are deliberately built with a limited lifespan, encouraging replacement rather than repair. This has fuelled a throwaway culture.

More importantly, repair is often discouraged or made difficult. The result is higher costs for consumers, increasing volumes of waste and the gradual erosion of repair skills and livelihoods. Manufacturers often restrict access to spare parts, design products that are difficult to repair, or limit servicing to authorised centres that charge a premium, effectively monopolising the repair market.

These challenges are highlighted in a new report, ‘Stitch in Time: Evaluating Consumer Behaviour & Electronics Repair Accessibility’, by the New Delhi-based environmental research and advocacy organisation Toxics Link. The report also points to a shortage of skilled and certified technicians as well as limited access to advanced diagnostic tools needed to repair increasingly complex products.

Based on research and field visits across Delhi, Hyderabad, Nagpur, Ranchi and Kolkata, the study found a widespread decline in repair culture and a growing preference for replacement over repair, particularly among higher-income groups. For lower-income households, however, repair remains an important and cost-effective option.

“A strong service ecosystem is needed to shift consumers towards repair rather than replacement,” says Satish Sinha, associate director, Toxics Link. While India continues to have a large informal repair sector, that lacks consumer trust and quality assurance. A repair framework and supporting legislation can help formalise the industry and make it more reliable and dependable, he adds.

According to Swati Vishan, senior programme officer, waste and sustainability team, Toxics Link, strengthening the repair sector would accelerate India’s transition to a circular economy by reducing waste, conserving resources, lowering carbon emissions and creating jobs. It would also support several UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including responsible consumption and production (SDG 12), climate action (SDG 13) and decent work and economic growth (SDG 8). The need is urgent. India was the world’s third-largest generator of e-waste in 2022, after China and the United States, producing an estimated 3.2 million tonnes annually.

India has traditionally relied on a vast informal repair and maintenance economy. However, this ecosystem is gradually shrinking as products become more sophisticated and difficult to fix.

The report recommends implementing a Right to Repair framework that mandates original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to provide access to repair manuals, diagnostic tools and genuine spare parts. It also calls for standards and certification mechanisms for repair services to improve quality and build consumer trust through warranties.

Another recommendation is to decentralise spare-part logistics by creating a wider distribution network for genuine components, reducing shortages that often push consumers towards premature product disposal. The government can also launch national repair-skilling initiatives that would not only strengthen the repair ecosystem but also generate employment.

In 2023, the government launched the Right to Repair portal as a centralised repository of repair-related information. However, the initiative remains limited, with only 65 companies onboarded so far.

What India needs is a national Product Repairability Index that enables consumers to assess how easy or difficult it is to repair a product before making a purchase. Such an index would also encourage manufacturers to design products that are easier to maint…