HB 386 — An Act providing for an index relating to diagnosis, maintenance and repair of digital electronic equipment and for enforcement by Attorney General.

PRINTER'S NO.   351

                   THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA



                       HOUSE BILL
                       No. 386
                                                Session of
                                                  2025

     INTRODUCED BY HOWARD, HILL-EVANS, OTTEN, SANCHEZ, STEELE AND
        MADDEN, JANUARY 28, 2025

     REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON CONSUMER PROTECTION, TECHNOLOGY AND
        UTILITIES, JANUARY 28, 2025


                                  AN ACT
 1   Providing for an index relating to diagnosis, maintenance and
 2      repair of digital electronic equipment and for enforcement by
 3      Attorney General.
 4      The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
 5   hereby enacts as follows:
 6   Section 1.   Short title.
 7      This act shall be known and may be cited as the Repairability
 8   Index Act.
 9   Section 2.   Definitions.
10      The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
11   have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
12   context clearly indicates otherwise:
13      "Digital electronic equipment."     A product that depends, for
14   its functioning, in whole or in part, on digital electronics
15   embedded in or attached to the product.
16      "Original equipment manufacturer."     A company that
17   manufactures or contracts another company to manufacture digital
18   electronic equipment.
 1      "Part."   A replacement part, either new or used, made
 2   available by an original equipment manufacturer for purposes of
 3   effecting the services of maintenance or repair of digital
 4   electronic equipment manufactured or sold by the original
 5   equipment manufacturer.
 6   Section 3.   Duties of original equipment manufacturers.
 7      The following apply:
 8          (1)   For digital electronic equipment sold or used in
 9      this Commonwealth, original equipment manufacturers shall
10      make available, for the purposes of diagnosis and consumer
11      information, a repairability score for the categories listed
12      under paragraph (2). The average repairability score required
13      under paragraph (3) shall be placed on the product packaging
14      by sticker or other printing. Quick response codes or other
15      codes may be used to guide a consumer to the full
16      repairability information available on the manufacturer's or
17      Attorney General's publicly accessible Internet website as
18      required under section 4.
19          (2)   The original equipment manufacturer shall provide a
20      numeric score for each of the following criteria for the
21      digital electronic equipment. The repairability score shall
22      range from 1, least repairable, to 10, most repairable, and
23      shall be based on the ability to conduct maintenance or
24      repair on digital electronic equipment manufactured by, on
25      behalf of or sold by the original equipment manufacturer:
26                (i)    Duration and availability of technical documents
27          and related advice on the use and maintenance of the
28          digital electronic equipment.
29                (ii)   Ease of dismantling, tools required and other
30          characteristics of the fasteners used or other parts.

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 1              (iii)    Original equipment manufacturer's estimation
 2        of the duration of parts for the product.
 3              (iv)    The amount of time the original equipment
 4        manufacturer plans on manufacturing replacement parts for
 5        the digital electronic equipment.
 6              (v)    Price ratio of replacement parts to the price of
 7        new equipment.
 8              (vi)    Potential to recycle or dispose of the digital
 9        electronic equipment.
10              (vii)    Expertise required to safely effect the
11        repair.
12              (viii)       Any other information deemed necessary by the
13        Attorney General.
14        (3)   The original equipment manufacturer shall compile
15    the average repairability score. The average repairability
16    score shall be the average of each score criteria under
17    paragraph (2).
18        (4)   The following information shall be included with the
19    repairability scores:
20              (i)    Details of the digital electronic equipment:
21                     (A)    Model number.
22                     (B)    Manufacturer's suggested retail price.
23              (ii)    Information on the nature of software updates
24        provided by the original equipment manufacturer.
25              (iii)    Potential for a factory reset of the product.
26              (iv)    Whether or not remote assistance is available
27        from the original equipment manufacturer and the price
28        charged for providing assistance.
29              (v)    Other information deemed necessary by the
30        Attorney General.

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 1   Section 4.   Repairability score reporting.
 2      Ninety days prior to selling digital electronic equipment in
 3   this Commonwealth, an original equipment manufacturer must
 4   submit the repairability scores, reasons given for how the
 5   equipment meets the scores chosen and information required under
 6   section 3 for the digital electronic equipment to the Attorney
 7   General. The Attorney General shall post this information on the
 8   Office of Attorney General's publicly accessible Internet
 9   website.
10   Section 5.   Enforcement by Attorney General.
11      The following apply:
12          (1)     A violation of this act shall be considered an
13      unlawful practice under the act of December 17, 1968
14      (P.L.1224, No.387), known as the Unfair Trade Practices and
15      Consumer Protection Law. All remedies, penalties and
16      authority granted to the Attorney General by that act shall
17      be available to the Attorney General for the enforcement of
18      this act.
19          (2)     The Attorney General is permitted to prosecute an
20      individual who knowingly falsifies information related to
21      this act, submits fraudulent information to the Office of
22      Attorney General related to this act or conspires to mislead
23      consumers.
24   Section 6.   Applicability.
25      This act applies to digital electronic equipment sold on or
26   after the effective date of this section.
27   Section 7.   Effective date.
28      This act shall take effect in 180 days.




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