Relevance: GS-2: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.

Key Phrases: Fair Repair Act, Intellectual property, Right to repair, Competition Commission of India, Shamsher Kataria v Honda Siel Cars India Ltd, Consumer Protection Act, 2019, Massachusetts Motor Vehicle Owners’ Right to Repair Act, 2012,

Why in News?

• It is time to not only acknowledge the right to repair of consumers, but also respond to the rights of manufacturers.

Context:

• In U.S. the State of New York recently passed the Fair Repair Act, which requires manufacturers to supply repair information, tools, and parts to independent repair shops and not just their own stores or partners.
• This provides consumers with the right to repair and refurbish their purchased goods. With access to relevant tools and repair manuals, independent repair shops will finally be able to compete with manufacturers.
• While this is a victory for consumer rights, privacy, security and quality concerns along with blatant intellectual property (IP) rights violations of the manufacturers cannot be sidelined.

Challenges in Repairing of Electronic Goods:

• Repairing is becoming unreasonably expensive or pretty much impossible because of technology becoming obsolete.
• Incompatibility: Companies avoid the publication of manuals that can help users make repairs easily.
• No repair manual: The absence of repair manuals means that manufacturers hold near-monopoly over repair workshops that charge consumers exorbitant prices.
• Incompatibility: Manufacturers have proprietary control over spare parts and most firms refuse to make their products compatible with those of other firms.
• Planned obsolescence results in products breaking down too soon and buying a replacement is often cheaper and easier than repairing them.
• Big companies often deploy mechanisms that practically forbid other enterprises to repair their products.

Why do electronic manufacturers oppose the right to repair?

• Large tech companies, including Apple, Microsoft, Amazon and Tesla, have been lobbying against the right to repair. Their argument is that opening up their intellectual property to third party repair services or amateur repairers could lead to exploitation and impact the safety and security of their devices.
• Tesla, for instance, has fought against right to repair advocacy, stating that such initiatives threaten data security and cyber security.
• Manufacturers claim that the quality and functioning of the product might be adversely affected if they allow repairs by consumers and third parties

Right To Repair in India:

• In India, currently, there’s no legislation or any provision dealing with ‘Right to Repair’ but the judgement of Competition Commission of India, in the case of Shamsher Kataria v Honda Siel Cars India Ltd. is treated as a turning point wherein
• 14 automobile manufacturing companies were held liable for engaging in anti- competitive practices and abusing their dominant position, by only selling spare parts only to authorized dealers and not to independent markets.
• When read closely, the ‘right to repair’ can be said to be implicit in Section 2(9) of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019. This warrants some relief. Its apparent disregard merits an explicit insertion of a ‘right to repair’ clause in the said provision. This would make consumers more aware, provide tooth to an already implicit right, and aid in advancing repair-related liability on various stakeholders, including policy recommendations, pertinent amendments and even a specific law incorporating the right to repair to better implement it.

Provisions in Other Countries:

• Many countries have taken initiatives, adopted policies and even tried to enact legislation that recognise the “right to repair” to reduce electronic waste.
• Some jurisdictions offer limited scope for exercising the right to repair.
• The UK also introduced the path-breaking “right to repair” in 2021 that makes it legally binding on manufacturers to provide spare parts.The Right to Repair law in the U.K. came into force on July 1, 2021 that made mandatory for manufacturers to make spares available to both consumers and third-party repair technicians.
• Rest of the European countries will follow the E.U. rules and regulations. A two year window is given to the manufacturers to make the necessary changes and abide by the new legislation. The legislation is considered as a positive step in reducing e-waste by encouraging repairing of devices instead of dumping in the scrap.
• The Massachusetts Motor Vehicle Owners’ Right to Repair Act, 2012 requires automobile manufacturers to provide spare parts and diagnostics to buyers and even independent third-party mechanics.
• France requires manufacturers to display a repairability index on their products which consists of five parameters. This helps consumers understand if the products are repairable, difficult to repair or not repairable at all. The duration of imposing product liability may vary depending on the product and its longevity.

Way Forward:

• The New York legislation is a reminder that it is time to not only acknowledge the right to repair of consumers but also respond to the corresponding rights of the manufacturers.
• This warrants some expedited policy changes to recognise the ‘right to repair’, be it through amendments in the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 or through a separate law.
• Support repair-friendly manufacturers, and avoid the ones that aren’t.

Source: The Hindu

Mains Question:

Q. ‘Right to Repair’ is good for both consumers and environment. Discuss.