San Francisco, Aug 8 (IANS): European Union are now planning to crack the whip after tech companies have failed to introduce common mobile phone chargers to cut down on electronic waste, the media reported.

Companies included Apple, Nokia, Sony Ericsson and Motorola, among others, had vouched to adopt a single standard -- the MicroUSB port -- by 2011, 9to5Mac reported on Tuesday.

The idea behind the undertaking, signed back in 2009, was generalising the charging ports so that users could use the same physical connectors and power inputs, preventing them from having to change their chargers while switching from one brand to another, reducing costs and environmental damage from old, un-used chargers.

The original agreement was valid for a two-year period and was subsequently extended. It was last renewed in 2014.

If companies had adopted the MicroUSB standard in 2014, it would have delayed their ability to make a later switch to USB-Type C.

At this point, where the EU is planning to take strict steps towards the enforcement of this undertaking, only Apple seems to be the one that would be singled out because majority of the other companies are voluntarily adopting the USB-C chargers and ports.