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Right to Repair

UPSC CCURRENT AFFAIRS | GOVT PLANS ‘RIGHT TO REPAIR’ FRAMEWORK TO HELP CONSUMERS GET PRODUCTS FIXED INDEPENDENTLY | 17TH JULY | PIB

/ July, 2022, UPSC Daily Current Affairs

SYLLABUS SECTION: GS II (GOVERNANCE)

WHY IN THE NEWS?

The Union government is working on a Right to Repair” framework to cut down restrictive practices introduced by some manufacturers so that people can get goods such as consumer durables, phones and cars fixed on their own.

KEY DETAILS:

  • A government committee has been set up to develop the comprehensive framework on the RTR.
  • Key identified important sectors to implement it are:
  • Farming Equipment,
  • Mobile Phones/ Tablets,
  • Consumer Durables and
  • Automobiles/Automobile Equipment

What is Right to Repair?

RTR movement calls for manufacturers to make authentic parts available to consumers so that they can get their device repair from independent shops as well, if they so desire.

Aim of Right to Repair:
  • To empower consumers and product buyers in the local market,
  • To emphasize on developing sustainable consumption of products and reduction in e-waste. 
Why Right to Repair is Needs?
  • Monopoly on repair processes infringes the customer’s’ ‘right to choose’.
  • To harmonize trade between the original equipment manufacturers and the third-party buyers and sellers,
  • Manufacturers are encouraging a culture of ‘plan obsolescence’.
  • This is a system whereby the design of any gadget is such that it lasts a particular time only and after that particular period it has to be mandatorily replace. When contracts fail to cede full control to the buyer-the legal right of owners are damage,
  • Manufacturers have proprietary control over spare parts (regarding the kind of design they use for screws and other).
  • Practices such as plan obsolescence and creation of monopolies on spare parts while stressing on the need to give consumers the right to choose how they get products fix.
Right to Repair and the World:
  • The right to repair has been recognize in many countries across the globe, including the US, UK and the European Union.
  • In the US, the Federal Trade Commission has directed manufacturers to remedy unfair anti-competitive practices and asked them to make sure that consumers can make repairs, either themselves or by third parties.
  • The framework will become a “game-changer” for the sustainability of the products and serve as a catalyst for employment generation.

SOURCE: PIB