Electronic warranty bill passes House

The House overwhelmingly approved legislation Tuesday night that makes it easier for device makers to fulfill their obligation to provide warranty information to customers.

The E-Warranty Act allows companies to comply with regulations using an electronic version of their warranties instead of a printed copy. Companies are required to instruct their customers on either the product itself or its packaging materials on ways to find the warranty information.

{mosads}The bill passed the House, 388-2. It was approved by the Senate in July by unanimous consent.

President Obama signed a law last year that allows makers of devices with integrated screens to display certain required information online, rather than engrave it on the devices themselves.

Industry groups hailed the bill’s passage in the House.

“We applaud the House for its swift action to pass the E-Warranty Act of 2015,” said Gary Shapiro, the chief executive officer of the Consumer Electronics Association, in a statement.

“As part of technology manufacturers’ growing commitment to reducing their paper footprint and consumers’ growing preference to digitize documents, it makes perfect sense to modernize the Federal Trade Commission’s regulations to allow for the online posting of manufacturers’ warranties.”

He said the group looked forward to Obama “signing this bill into law.”