A strange hacking incident involving the Chinese app Prank has surfaced, severely impacting e-rickshaw drivers and their daily income both nationwide and in Madhya Pradesh. Significantly, e-rickshaw drivers in Bhopal and Indore have reported that their vehicles are being remotely shut down by manipulating the Battery Management System (BMS) via a mobile application.
Drivers from different areas said their e-rickshaws suddenly stopped in the middle of the road, leaving both passengers and drivers stranded. The issue is not only affecting their daily earnings but also causing inconvenience to commuters, who are forced to get down midway.
Bhopal
Narrating his ordeal, an e-rickshaw driver in Bhopal said his vehicle stopped on Wednesday around 1:30 pm on VIP Road while carrying small children as passengers.
He stated that the e-rickshaw failed to start again, forcing him to push it by hand. He later alleged that he was made to pay ₹200 to have the system unlocked.
Ujjain
On this issue, Neel Ganga police station in-charge Tarun Kuril stated, "Yesterday, we received information that an auto-rickshaw had broken down at Loti Tiraha, and a young man took Rs 200 from the driver on the pretext of repairing it. During questioning, the driver disclosed that e-rickshaws in the city are currently being switched off remotely specifically, their batteries are being deactivated through a mobile app."
He stated, "The application being used for this activity is a pirated version, and we are notifying everyone about it. We have also made sure that dealers require all e-rickshaw drivers to download a designated authorized app so that, if their vehicle is hacked and disabled, they can restart it on their own."Several drivers reported similar incidents, saying many e-rickshaws are currently lined up at mechanic shops due to the problem.
They claim that certain people who understand how the app-based system operates can toggle vehicles on and off, while other drivers are left at a disadvantage.
Netizens condemn pranksters
Multiple videos of people halting nearby e-rickshaws and manually pushing them, along with their drivers, are rapidly spreading across social media. Witnessing e-rickshaw drivers’ plight, netizens have strongly condemned those executing the prank and have demanded action against them.
What is the BAT BMS app?
The BAT BMS app, available on the Google Play Store, is reportedly used for managing battery systems. It is said that when Bluetooth is turned on, the app can detect nearby e-rickshaw BMS units. If the system is not password-protected, some control options may become accessible.
Police are now investigating whether certain e-rickshaw models have security flaws in their battery systems and how such technical misuse may have been carried out.
BAT BMS App removed from Play Store, App Store
Taking immediate action on the matter, centre directed the removal of three battery management apps - BAT-BMS, Lossigy, and Epoch Li-ion - from both the Google Play Store and Apple App Store after reports that they were being misused to remotely disable moving e-rickshaws in Delhi.
Speaking at the CII Cybersecurity Summit, S Krishnan, Secretary at the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, stated that the apps were removed once they came to the government’s attention.