⚖️ Carrier Joins Multinational Pushback on India’s E‑Waste Pricing Rule
New Delhi, July 7, 2025 – Carrier Air Conditioning & Refrigeration, the Indian subsidiary of the U.S. firm Carrier, has become the latest global company to challenge India’s revised E‑Waste Management Rules. The Delhi High Court will also hear petitions from Samsung, LG, Daikin, and Voltas against the mandatory ₹22 per kg floor price for recycling consumer electronics reddit.com+4reuters.com+4business-standard.com+4moneylife.in+7livemint.com+7business-standard.com+7.
📈 Pricing Rule Drives Legal Challenges
Enacted in September 2024, the rule sets a minimum fee of ₹22 (~$0.26) per kg for recyclers, up to three to four times the previous rates. Carrier, in its 380-page petition filed June 3, argues that this mandate intrudes on private contracts and places undue financial burden on producers reuters.com.
🤝 Critics Speak Up
Carrier claims the government “should not interfere in private agreements,” warning that the new cost structure is “unfair and arbitrary” and risks giving recyclers undue pricing leverage reuters.com.
🔍 Policy Justified by Recycling Deficit
India is the world’s third-largest e-waste producer, but only about 43% of its e-waste was officially recycled last year, mostly through informal channels. The Ministry of Environment defends the scheme, stating the floor price is essential to formalise the recycling market reddit.com+15reuters.com+15businesstoday.in+15.
💼 Financial & Operational Impact
Carrier posted sales of $248 million in India last year. It contends the new regulation will impose a significant financial burden on manufacturers and disrupt operations reuters.com.
🌐 Global Industry Pushback
This legal challenge follows earlier actions by Samsung and LG—each filing hundreds-of-page petitions—criticising the policy as anti-market and potentially ineffective in solving informal e-waste issues moneylife.in+12reuters.com+12livemint.com+12. Other companies like Havells, Blue Star, and Tata’s Voltas are also pursuing similar legal routes reddit.com+15reuters.com+15cnbc.com+15.
📅 Delhi High Court to Hear Case
The consolidated petitions are scheduled for a hearing before the Delhi High Court, where parties will contest the floor price’s constitutionality, fairness, and economic viability .
