The ministry of environment and forests has introduced new and strict e-waste management rules, 2016. The revised rules, which will come into effect from October 2016, have included florescent and other mercury containing lamps in the e-waste rules, which means those manufacturing electronic products and equipment like bulbs, batteries, switches containing toxic components like lead and mercury will now have to ensure its disposal is channelised in a secured manner.

1. Compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) and other mercury containing lamp now included in the new rules, making safe disposal of consumer products containing these elements mandatory. 
    
2. For the first time the onus of disposing toxic e-waste is now on the manufacturers, dealers and refurbishers. Manufacturer, dealer, refurbisher and producer responsibility organisation (PRO) have been introduced as additional stakeholders. The 2011 rules limited the responsibility to the brand owners of the electronic products, consumers, dismantlers and recyclers.
    
3. Every producer of electronic products now has to apply for extended producer responsibility (EPR), within the period of 90 days from the date the rules are ratified. With this, the producers have to make sure that collection points are set up where safe disposal of e-waste containing mercury can take place by the their consumers. From that point, making sure the e-waste is treated and disposed without harming the environment.
    
4. Those who fail to get EPR authorisation would not be able to put their products in the market.
    
5. The particular provision has also given more teeth to the central pollution control board (CPCB), since EPR authroisation will be certified by the authority, after evaluating the plan submitted by the producer to safely treat its e-waste.  CPCB will also ensure proper implementation of the responsibilities with regular monitoring, as mentioned in the rules. 
    
6. The producers under EPR can also charge extra amount from their customers at the time of sale of electronic products, as a deposit, which has to be refunded when the customer comes for disposing the product. 
    
7. The rules have assigned a target of 30 percent waste generated under EPR for the first two years, progressively going up to 70 percent in the seventh year of the rule.
    
8. States, under the new guidelines, are also bound to undertake skill development activities for the workers, involved in e-waste management process. 
    
9. Micro enterprises are continued to be exempted from the rules.