Karnataka state pollution control board (KSPCB) is sending out show-cause notices to 32 electronics producers including Apple and Samsung for failing to comply with the e-waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2011. The notices are being sent after a report by a Delhi-based NGO, Toxics Link, which found that 32 of the 50 top producers fail to abide by the rules, even two-and-a-half years after they were enacted; the rules came into force in May 2012.

The 2011 law was passed to streamline e-waste management in the country, since only the informal sector was involved in it till then. As per the law, electronic and electrical equipment producers are required to set up collection points and provide contact details of the authorised collection centres to their consumers to facilitate return of used equipment. They are also supposed to fund the collection, transportation and recycling operations. Also, according to the managing and handling rule, the producers of electrical and electronic equipment are responsible for managing such equipment after its 'end of life'.

Some of the other prominent companies that were found flouting the law include BlackBerry, Xerox and Micromax. India generates 2.7 million tonne of e-waste annually, and most of this waste is often burnt or treated with harmful chemicals by unorganised recyclers to extract small amounts of precious metals, which is extremely hazardous to the environment.