India Bans Battery Apps Used to Remotely Disable E-Rickshaws

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology of India ordered Google and Apple to remove seven battery management applications, including BAT-BMS, Lossigy, Epoch Li-ion, and SMART BMS, after they were used to remotely disable e-rickshaws. The apps exploit unsecured Bluetooth-enabled lithium-ion battery management systems, primarily in budget Chinese-manufactured vehicles, which lack password protection. Perpetrators can connect to these systems from 10 to 20 meters away to trigger a discharge switch, immobilizing vehicles mid-ride.

In Delhi and Ujjain, the trend evolved from social media pranks into a fraud scheme. Some individuals disabled vehicles and then charged stranded drivers between 100 and 500 rupees to restore power. The disruptions caused significant financial losses for drivers and created safety risks, including potential rear-end collisions. In response, the Delhi Police Crime Branch arrested 18-year-old Ritesh Bhanupa.

Delhi Transport Minister Pankaj Singh labeled the practice illegal and directed an investigation into the technical risks of unsecured battery systems. Manufacturer Balvinder Singh Sahni explained that these systems lacked passwords because they were originally designed for service engineers. MeitY Secretary S Krishnan confirmed the app removals and asserted that app stores must exercise greater due diligence to prevent the distribution of harmful software. While some apps like BAT-BMS later introduced password security, the government maintained that the lack of authentication guardrails for imported devices posed a systemic cybersecurity risk.