Photo credit: ANI
NEW DELHI: The Centre has ordered Google and Apple to remove three Chinese battery-management apps — BAT-BMS, Lossigy and Epoch-i-ion — from their app stores after reports that they were being misused to remotely disable battery-operated vehicles, including e-rickshaws, surfaced on social media. The action comes six years after India’s first major “digital strike” on Chinese apps in the wake of Galwan, but marks a shift in the nature of the threat, from data security, sovereignty and financial fraud to remote interference with connected devices on Indian roads.Govt sources said the ministry of electronics and IT has warned that any other app found to be used to interfere with battery-operated vehicles or shut them down remotely will also be blocked. According to MeitY officials, similar applications are under the scanner, and the matter is being closely monitored.The action followed videos showing e-rickshaws, locally known as “tirris”, being stopped through Bluetooth-enabled battery management systems. In several clips, users were seen scanning nearby batteries through smartphone apps and switching off the discharge function, leaving drivers stranded and unable to resume work. MeitY secretary S Krishnan confirmed that the issue had reached the government. “There are a couple of apps, which came to our notice yesterday, and both of them have been taken down from the app stores,” he said. Krishnan added that the government would take up the matter with app stores to ensure potentially harmful applications are not available in the public domain.Officials said BAT-BMS and similar apps are designed to monitor battery parameters such as voltage, current, charge status and temperature. However, on poorly secured systems, the same interface can be misused to control output and cut the power supply. The risk, officials said, is higher in low-cost battery packs that allow Bluetooth access without passwords or authentication.The latest order sits in a wider backdrop of app bans and takedowns linked to Chinese-origin platforms. On June 29, 2020, shortly after the Galwan Valley clash in which 20 Indian soldiers were killed, the Centre banned 59 apps, including TikTok, SHAREit, UC Browser, CamScanner, Helo, Weibo, WeChat and Club Factory, citing data security, sovereignty and national security concerns under Section 69A. This was followed by more rounds: 47 apps in July 2020, mostly clones of earlier banned platforms; 118 apps in September 2020, including PUBG Mobile; and 43 apps in November 2020, an order that relied on inputs from the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre under the home ministry. In February 2022, 54 more apps, many allegedly rebranded versions of earlier banned ones, were blocked. In February 2023, MeitY, on MHA’s recommendation, moved against 138 betting and 94 loan-lending apps on an urgent and emergency basis amid concerns over improper data storage, transfer of data abroad, money laundering and harassment of borrowers.The BAT-BMS case, however, appears to fall in a distinct category: not merely data exfiltration, platform influence or financial abuse, but connected-device misuse with immediate physical and livelihood consequences.The issue has caused concern among e-rickshaw drivers, many of whom operate rented vehicles and depend on daily earnings. Videos showed drivers losing several hours of work after their vehicles were disabled. MeitY sources said app platforms have been asked to strengthen due diligence for connected-device applications affecting public safety. Go to Source
