Nearly Half of Households Find Device Repair Costs Exorbitant: Survey

Around 38 per cent of households polled have more than three gadgets such as laptops and mobile phones that need repair, but nearly half of respondents found the repair costs prohibitive, a report by online platform LocalCircles said. “On an aggregate basis, 43 per cent of Indian households have three or more less-than-five-year-old devices such as laptops and smartphones at home that need service or repair,” the report said. Around 47 per cent of households stated that the repair cost of old devices was prohibitive and bad economics, and so they bought a new device instead.

The data is based on a question about the number of devices less than five years old (laptop, desktop, tablet, smartphone, printer, others) that people have in their houses that have technical issues. Many respondents opted to buy a new device instead of trying to get it serviced locally or by the manufacturer.

The survey received more than 34,000 responses from 309 districts of India. Of the respondents, 61 percent were male and 39 percent were female. LocalCircles founder Sachin Taparia said that the survey was conducted between April 10 and July 9. While 47 percent of respondents were from Tier 1 cities, 31 percent were from Tier 2 cities, and 22 percent were from Tier 3 and 4 towns and rural districts.

When asked about their decision to buy a replacement laptop, desktop, tablet, printer, mobile phone for one less than five years old, 47 per cent of consumers stated that the cost of getting service was prohibitive, while 18 per cent said they tried getting repairs done but the manufacturer failed to deliver.

The survey report coincides with the Ministry of Consumer Affairs’ decision to create a framework for ‘Right to Repair’ in India. The objective of the ministry is to bind manufacturers to give detailed drawings of their products so that consumers do not remain dependent on original manufacturers for after-sales service or repairs.