two years after its launch, a timid takeoff

The “repair bonus”, assistance reducing the repair bill for electronic, household appliances or gardening devices, celebrated its second anniversary on December 15. And the results are mixed: after a first lymphatic year – few device repairs having been subsidized – the second saw a doubling of the volume of aid granted, according to Ecologic, one of the eco-organizations responsible for collecting contributions builders and distribute aid. But the number of repairs remains modest: 574,163 in France from the end of 2023 to the end of 2024, according to figures aggregated by the company. Which represents less than one device in twenty repaired.

The fault lies in too slow a deployment, according to Bertrand Reygner, director of institutional and technical relations at Ecologic. Only 18% of the budget of 154 million euros available to eco-organizations for the year 2024 has in fact been spent. As for the number of repair points labeled QualiRépar, that is to say places and shops authorized to submit subsidy applications, it increases from 4,468 to 8,018, according to Ecologic – or approximately one repairer in three.

Not enough professionals

An insufficient number, in the eyes of the Stop Planned Obsolescence (HOP) association, which continues to call for the acceleration of the deployment of the bonus, in order to extend the average lifespan of our devices and reduce our carbon footprint. . To do this, it recommends in particular expanding the network of repairers by launching a “ major national communication campaign, in order to promote repair professions as professions of the future “. As well as “ remove trigger thresholds to access the bonus “, which prevent the payment of a subsidy for repairs that are too inexpensive.

The Consumer Housing and Living Environment association (CLCV), which defends consumers and users, is also calling for improvements. “Since screen breaks were included in the repairs eligible for the repair bonus, the number of mobile phones supported has almost doubled, she argues in a press release published in October. This demonstrates the need to expand the bonus eligibility criteria to include other types of outages, such as maintenance operations and software updates. »

Since the launch of the bonus at the end of 2022, new consumer items have been declared eligible for subsidies: clothing and shoes in November 2023, furniture in May 2024 or even sporting goods in July 2024. The list A complete list of articles which may be eligible for assistance is available on the site www.bonusreparation.org, created by the HOP association to remedy the scattering of sites information on the bonus.