The Center has asked Apple and Google to remove seven mobile applications used to remotely disable battery-powered vehicles, days after videos of pranksters immobilizing e-rickshaws with a tap on their smartphones spread across Indian social media.
“Meity has issued a notice to Google Android and Apple iOS to remove 7 apps from its app store due to misuse of apps to switch off batteries in auto rickshaws/e-rickshaws,” a government official said.
The apps – BAT-BMS, SMART BMS, JBD-BMS, XiaoxiangElectrics, JKBMS, Lossigy and Epoch-i-ion – connect to vulnerable Bluetooth-enabled battery management systems (BMS) and have been used to switch off vehicles mid-trip, according to a senior government official in the Union Ministry of Electronics and IT (Meity). “Any other misused apps will also be blocked,” a second government official said.
Apple was asked to remove six of the seven apps, except for Epoch-i-ion, a person familiar with the matter said.
The action is not being taken under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, the provision typically used to block online content and applications. “It does not fall within the ambit of 69A,” a senior Meity official said.
Instead, the government is treating continued hosting of the apps as a potential legal violation that could strip Apple and Google of the legal immunity they enjoy as intermediaries. “It is a potential violation of the law and therefore the safe harbor can be lifted,” the official said, referring to protections under Section 79 of the Information Technology Act, which shields platforms from liability for third-party content unless they fail to act on a legal notice.
The official did not specify which law the apps allegedly violated.
The government did not say whether notices have also been issued to app developers, or whether any action is planned against manufacturers of vulnerable battery systems.
In a test conducted with the driver’s permission, HT was able to disable the e-rickshaw using an app after connecting to an insecure Bluetooth-enabled Building Management System (BMS). The apps are designed to monitor battery health — voltage, temperature, and current — but they can also cut power to compatible lithium-ion packs if they’re connected to an unprotected Bluetooth interface.
