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By March 2025, all smartphones and other mobile devices offered in India must include a USB-C charging connector as standard.

That comes three months after Europe announced a similar deadline, voting in October to mandate USB-C charging connections in almost all electronics sold in the European Economic Community by the end of 2024. Beginning in 2026, laptops will also be forced to implement USB-C charging. 

This week, India’s Consumer Affairs Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh stated that his nation, the world’s second-largest smartphone market, will follow Europe’s lead closely.

The change is given time because global supply chains aren’t easy to change

Speaking to the Times of India, Singh said that in India, “the directive will kick in three months after the European Union because the mobile and electronics makers have a global supply chain, and they don’t supply to India alone.”

Speaking separately to Business Standard, Sing said there is a “broad consensus among the industry and government that the use of type-C charging ports can be made mandatory after six months of the European Union’s rolling out of standards for charging ports in 2024 as electronic manufacturers have a global integrated supply chain.”

India was already working on making USB-C the standard

The mandate means that three months from Europe’s deadline, India will demand USB-C charging as default on smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices delivered within its borders, and six months later, the hard deadline hits.

Manufacturers have stated that if they are not already adopting USB-C charging, they will do it gradually to meet India’s deadline. The Bureau of Indian Standards in New Delhi will formalize and drive the adjustments.

India was already on its way to mandating USB-C charging for mobile gadgets; timetables and other details remained to be worked out.