INDIA ROHS COMPLIANCE

The largest democracy voted the ‘’E-waste (Management and Handling) Rules’’ back in 2011. This India RoHS regulation addresses both the presence of hazardous substances (RoHS) in electronics as well as their waste (WEEE).

The Indian Environmental Management of Electronic Products

The law governs the production, collection, storage, transit, import, and export of Electronic and Electrical Equipment (EEE). The goal is to ensure that electronic trash is recycled, treated, and disposed of in an environmentally friendly manner. A chapter of the legislation also deals with reducing the use of hazardous substances in the production of EEE.

Although both WEEE and RoHS are combined under one regulation, their enactment was not simultaneous. The WEEE section came into force first on May 1, 2012. The RoHS obligations started to apply on May 12, 2013. The transition period for achieving the restrictions set by the Rules ended two years following each date. Currently, the reduction of these hazardous substances in EEE is obligatory for all who fall within the scope.

Therefore, if you manufacture or import electronic products in the Republic of India, WEEE or RoHS obligations may apply, depending on the size of the Indian legal entity and the type of imported devices.

India RoHS Amendments

India’s Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change (MoEFCC) released in 2023 the “E-Waste (Management) Second Amendment Rules, 2023”.

This amendment mirrors the EU RoHS scope by expanding the product categories as follows:

I. Information technology and telecommunication equipment

II. Consumer electrical and electronics and photovoltaic panels

III. Large and small electrical and electronic equipment

IV. Electrical and electronic tools (except large-scale stationary industrial tools)

V. Toys, leisure, and sports equipment

VI. Medical devices (except all implanted and infected products)

VII. Laboratory instruments

Interestingly, product categories do not match between EU and India RoHS. Nevertheless, both jurisdictions target almost the same products.

Moreover, if no compliant components or spare parts are available, they remain out of the India RoHS scope until April 1, 2028.

An Easy Confusion Between Amendments

As a side note, MoEFCC released the first amendment on November 2, 2022, entitled “E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2022”. It enforced short RoHS implementation deadlines. The Ministry eventually put off these dates with the 2023 version.

Comparison between India and EU RoHS

Same RoHS Principles

The following approaches apply to both markets:

The projected in-scope products are almost the same between India RoHS and EU RoHS;
Strategical equipment for military and national defense purposes is excluded from the scope;
Packaging and batteries are regulated separately and not within the RoHS scope;
The restriction thresholds apply at the homogeneous material level in both markets;
These thresholds are 0.1% w/w for all restricted substances except for cadmium, which is at a level of 0.01% w/w;
Exemptions apply to specific applications, such as lead contained in some metal alloys, glasses, or ceramics in specific electronic components.

Differences Between India and EU RoHS

	India RoHS	European Union (EU) RoHS
Scope	Before 2025: Most IT and telecommunications equipment, except hard drives and other equipment for collecting, storing, processing, or transmitting information electronically Some large household appliances, like air-conditioning units, refrigerators, and washing machines Televisions By 2025, almost the same in-scope products as EU RoHS in different categories.	The EU RoHS scope is a very broad one. It covers most consumer and professional electrical and electronic equipment.
Excluded Businesses and Product Categories	Small-sized enterprises, specifically defined under the Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises Development Act, 2006 Sub-assemblies or sub-parts within an exempted product category Products that do not require the use of electricity to fulfill their primary function (e.g. talking toys) Radioactive waste	No by-size business exclusions. Out-of-scope products listed in Article 2 of Directive 2011/65/EU
Legal Responsibility	Producers, distributors, importers Collection centers, dismantlers, and recyclers of WEEE	Producers, distributors, importers
Restricted Substances	Hexavalent Chromium Lead and compounds Mercury and compounds Cadmium and compounds BBPs PBDEs	Same + 4 phthalates (BBP, DBP, DEHP, and DIBP)

India WEEE

The various stakeholders on the recycling of electronics must be registered and authorized by the Indian governmental authorities. Permit revisions and e-waste storage restrictions apply.

Need advice on either India RoHS or WEEE? Reach out to Enviropass!