India pulls battery apps after e-rickshaw rides suspended

An e-rickshaw plying a busy Delhi road (File) | Photo credit: SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR

Indian officials said on Friday they had pulled two smartphone apps after reports that some e-rickshaws could be shut down remotely, exploiting a security loophole in the budget vehicles.

Many e-rickshaws, battery-powered versions of India’s popular mode of transport, often use Chinese Bluetooth-enabled battery management units that lack safety features.

In recent days, videos of people using Chinese battery management apps to remotely power down e-rickshaws while driving have gone viral in the country.

The videos show people approaching e-rickshaws on busy streets, connecting to the vehicle’s battery system via Bluetooth and stopping it by turning off the motor’s power via a discharge switch.

AFP could not independently verify that the apps work as the videos show.

Senior Information and Technology Ministry official S. Krishnan told reporters that they had been alerted to “a couple of apps”.

“Both have been pulled from app stores,” he said.

While Krishnan offered no further details, local media reports said the two apps were developed in China and were called “BAT-BMS” and “Epoch Li-ion”.

Only rickshaws with Bluetooth-enabled lithium batteries that use insecure battery management systems were affected; not those that run on lead acid batteries.

An e-rickshaw driver in the capital Delhi whose vehicle was stopped on Thursday told AFP he was losing wages “because of these apps”.

“Yesterday, my e-rickshaw stopped working. In the extreme heat of Delhi, I had to push it by myself for six or seven kilometers to (a service centre) to fix the problem,” said Ghanshyam Kumar, 28.

The passengers refused to pay the fare, he added.

“Similar incidents have increased significantly over the past week. That’s why there are long queues at the service center and we’re losing a lot of time there,” he said.

Delhi Transport Minister Pankaj Singh told the Press Trust of India that the police would investigate the incidents.

Published – 04 Jul 2026 11:41 IST